A Harbor In The Tempest
by Team Damon
Summary: Sequel to You Look Better In Pearls. They've left the cold, bitter air of Gotham behind for good, and now, on a private and secluded island nestled in the Caribbean, Bruce and Selina work to rebuild their lives while preparing to bring a new one into the world. A story of lovers, fighters, healing, hurting, and growing.
1. Chapter 1

Early morning one relatively cool fall day on the secluded, private island of Cat's Cay in the Bahamas, Selina Kyle found herself slowly awakening from a deep, dreamless sleep to shivers running down her spine and butterflies in her stomach.

It wasn't uncommon for her to wake up like this, but she didn't think she'd ever get used to it. Soft lips kissed tenderly along her neck and fingers brushed over and under her slightly swollen belly as her eyes opened and took in the room around her.

She was in the bedroom of their new, still as-yet unfinished house, and it was the type of bedroom she used to dream about sleeping in every night - huge canopied bed, two large glass doors that had been left open all night, allowing the island breeze to blow through the room and rustle gently through the long white curtains that sat above them. Outside of the doors, and the windows that lined the entire room, was a pristine beach of white sand and deep turquoise water, shaded by palm trees and shimmering under a currently rising sun. And she could see it all from her bed.

It was nothing, though, compared to what was inside, she thought.

Her lover's lips stayed on her neck, concentrating on the little spots that he knew were most sensitive, and his hand moved down over the curve of her hip as she allowed the shivers and goosebumps he was causing to awaken her fully.

"Bruce," she murmured, reaching behind her and threading her fingers into the long hair dangling from his head and tickling her shoulder.

"Mmm," was his reply, moving his hand between her thighs.

"Have I told you how much I love waking up like this?" she asked, moving from her side to her back so that she could face him.

"Every day," he grinned, bringing his lips to hers as his hand left its precarious place and moved up to cradle her face as he kissed her.

There was not a stitch of fabric on either of their bodies to separate them from one another, and the sole sheet on the bed was still twisted and forgotten near their feet from last night's endeavors. His skin was warm against hers, fingertips firm as they roamed down to the small of her back as he pulled her closer into his arms, guiding her leg to wrap around his own while she kissed him fervently.

She felt his hardness on her thigh and she arched against him, already burning and looking for relief from the throbbing between her legs, but she knew he wouldn't give her what she wanted for a few moments still. He never failed to take his time working her up, even in their most frantic of times, and sometimes, like now, she wished he wouldn't.

"Bruce," she purred as his lips wandered again, along her jaw and towards her ear while that straying hand of his cupped one of her breasts. She rocked her hips against him, and he twitched against her, and she gasped when his teeth gently nibbled her ear lobe.

"Bruce," she repeated, more insistent this time, sinking the tips of her nails into his back.

"Tell me what you want," he rasped into her ear, and her entire body tingled in response.

Him and his damn Batman voice, she groaned to herself. That just wasn't fair. "You know damn well what I want," she replied, her hands guiding his face back to hers.

He kissed her once more before looking into her eyes and saying in the same deep voice, "Tell me."

She narrowed her eyes slightly but played along, looking down at his lips as she replied, "Your mouth, Mr. Wayne."

His eyes seemed to darken at this, and she knew her use of his last name had brought forth in his mind an earlier time, a much earlier one, before they'd come to know one another like the backs of their own hands.

"My mouth's right here, Miss Kyle," he replied, playing along as well, a slight grin on his lips as he placed a light kiss to her own.

"Are you really going to make me beg?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head. "That wouldn't suit you."

As true as that was, she knew he could make her beg if he really wanted to, but thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he kissed her one last time before his body shifted and he was crawling down her body, tasting it along the way, his kisses and touches softest as he passed over her belly. His hands on her thighs parted her legs as he found his destination, and she kept her eyes on him as her hands clenched on to nothing at her sides in anticipation.

He looked up at her and their eyes locked as the warmth of his mouth overcame her senses and she finally got what she'd been craving, and she couldn't stop herself from closing her eyes and letting out a moan from the depths of her throat.

By the time she gathered herself enough to open her eyes again, she vaguely noticed that she was clutching the hair on the top of his head as if for her very survival, and as his tongue worked its magic on her, she made sure to keep her eyes open and on him until the end.

His eyes were closed, and she could see that he was losing himself the way that he often did, a result of the way that he invested himself fully into every single thing he ever did. He wasn't concentrating as hard as he was because he had to - he could please her in his sleep if he wanted to, and she doubted that was even an exaggeration - but he was as wrapped up as he was because he loved her, and loved making her shake and shudder, and watching him was almost too much.

When his eyes fluttered open after a bit and met hers once more, she felt rather than saw the tiny smile that crossed his lips, and that was the beginning of her end. He was merciless, and she nearly ripped out his hair as her mouth dropped open and she unravelled, slowly, his eyes on hers as the waves broke over her.

It really was the best way to wake up, she thought as her fingers eased up on his hair, breath coming in as heavy as ever while every muscle in her body became a relaxed pile of jelly. She closed her eyes as Bruce kissed up her body, trailing his lips everywhere he could until he was over her, his body covering hers but his weight careful not to drop on to her, and her eyes opened as he kissed her.

The way that he looked at her as his lips left hers made the squirm in her gut come back, reignited the tension that he'd brought to such a toe-curling peak only a moment ago, and she bit her lip as his hungry eyes drank her in.

His fingers brushed aside the nearly-shoulder length hair of hers that was strewn messily over her face as he breathed through parted lips, eyes burning and body aching to move, to take her and bring an end to the now-painful throbbing he was dealing with, but then her hand slipped between them and grasped him, and his breath hitched in his throat.

She was on top of him in a flash, her hand moving and teasing him, her lips on his neck and free hand on his hard chest, and she knew he wouldn't let her get away with it for long.

Sure enough, in a mere moment he growled and pushed her hands away from him, then rolled them both on their sides, her back pressed against his chest, his arm under her and wrapped around her waist while his other hand gripped her hip, lining them up and parting her legs.

His lips began devouring her again, frantic on her neck and the curve to her shoulder, and she rocked back against him, causing his tip to graze her entrance, and he growled again as his hands tightened their grips on her and he finally took her.

His hands went slack for a moment and his lips parted against her neck, allowing a groan to escape in his relief, and then he was moving, rocking them, and her hand reached back to clutch and pull his hair while she craned her neck back to catch his lips with hers.

She moved with him while her tongue tasted his mouth, still hanging on to his hair with one hand while the other gripped the pillow that was slipping out from under her head. Then he broke their kiss and freed his arm that had been wrapped under her, then used it to toss away the pillow before grasping her hand and holding down firmly against the mattress. She laid her head down on the top of his arm and then gasped when the hand that had been on her hips moved down and slipped between her legs, all while his thrusts grew deeper and more satisfying, yet more maddening, and soon she was on the cusp of losing it all over again.

His breaths were hot and ragged on her neck, but the rest of him was still hanging on to his tenuous control over himself. She was already starting to shake before his fingers picked up the pace, and as her walls clenched around him and pushed him off the edge with a torturous shove, his hand squeezed hers almost painfully tightly and she felt teeth on her shoulder that would undoubtedly leave a mark. She moaned freely, paying no mind to the sound of her own voice in her ear, but the sound of Bruce groaning into her skin managed to get her attention through the haze.

The already humid air in the room was now nearly suffocating, and it had nothing to do with the breeze floating in the room through the open doors. In fact, the temperature hadn't even hit 70 yet today, but the room felt as if it was scorching. Bruce was laying limp behind her, one hand still entwined with hers and the other gently rubbing one of her inner thighs while they caught their breath.

"I'm ready to go back to sleep," Selina muttered, turning in his arms and watching his lips stretch into a grin.

She pushed back some of the sweat-dampened hair that hung past his eyes, placing it behind his ear and running her fingers down to the ends that grazed his shoulders when it hung free. He looked so different now compared to how he used to, and it wasn't just the longer hair and the tanner skin. It was the lack of tension in his face and muscles, and the way he let himself smile a lot more often than before. There were still shadows behind his eyes, and he wasn't yet beyond staring off into space occasionally and letting the demons of his past haunt him, especially at night as they slept, but it was now the exception rather than the rule. His happiness was as clear as the water of the ocean just outside of their door, at least in her eyes. Anyone who truly knew him would see the difference.

"Can't do that," he replied, his tone one that expressed his satisfaction. "Today's the 20th."

Her eyes widened a little bit. "I totally forgot. The ultrasound's today - how did I forget?"

He pulled her closer into his arms and grinned as he lightly kissed her. "I guess I'm _that_ good that I made you forget."

"Cocky bastard," she grinned back. "Not that I'm complaining."

"We've still got an hour or two before we have to leave," Bruce said, fingers soft as he traced her lips. "You can sleep a little longer if you want."

"It's okay," she shrugged slightly. "We don't seem to do a lot of sleeping anyway."

"I think it's only practical," he replied. "That way, when the baby comes, we'll already be used to staying up all night."

She rolled her eyes. "For some reason I doubt it'll be quite the same thing."

"Maybe not," he conceded. "Still think it's a girl?"

"I never said I thought it was a girl," she said. "I said that I wouldn't be surprised if it was."

He smiled. "Well, we'll know in a few hours."

He kissed her again, and his hand brushed over her belly once more. She was sixteen weeks pregnant now, just entering her fourth month, and the early symptoms of nausea and all-day exhaustion were starting to wane just as the pregnancy was finally starting to show. Her belly now had a distinctly round, firm shape, and it had just begun to pop out in the last week. She'd been neutral about this development, but Bruce was thrilled at her new silhouette.

He leaned in to kiss her again when the doorbell to the front door rang across the house. Selina looked up at him in puzzlement. "Who's that?"

"Probably the construction crew," Bruce muttered, reluctantly untangling himself from her. Much of the house was still unfinished, but Bruce had sped up the finishing of the master bedroom, bathroom and kitchen so that the house could be livable quickly.

Selina nodded and watched as he rolled out of bed and threw on a pair of boxers, then raked his still-damp hair back with his hands. "Hurry back," she purred, and his grin was a satisfactory answer to her request as he walked out the bedroom door.

A hallway led from the bedroom to the front door, which sat in between a currently empty living room and a huge, sparkling clean kitchen, and when he reached the door and opened it, he did not find a crew of men on the other side of the door. Instead, he found a tall, bubbly, smiling blonde young woman, dressed in a light yellow sundress and bearing what looked to be an apple pie in her hands.

Her eyes widened and her smile turned into something of a gape for a moment as she looked Bruce up and down, her mouth opening but no words coming out for a moment.

"Hi," she finally managed to force out with a smile, making her eyes tear themselves away from Bruce's body and meet his eyes. "I'm Molly, your neighbor. And I... _wow_, I'm really sorry."

Bruce watched, amused, as the girl laughed and brought a hand to her blushing cheek as she said, "Yeah, I live right over there -" she pointed west of the house, and Bruce saw the outline of a large house behind some trees in the distance - "with my fiancé, and, um... I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

She smiled widely and shoved the pie out, and Bruce took it politely, still looking highly amused. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she chirped, giggling again. She had light blue eyes and they roamed over him again as she said, "_God_, you're really hot!"

He had to force himself not to laugh. "Thanks, I guess. You said you have a fiancé?"

"No - I mean, yes," she stammered, recovering with another wide smile.

He wanted to roll his eyes. It was a throwback to his days as a playboy, and he never particularly enjoyed those days as much as other men would have.

"Sorry," she said again, still grinning. "You're just -"

"Really hot, yeah, he's got it," came Selina's surly voice from down the hall.

Bruce fought another laugh as he glanced behind him to find an annoyed looking Selina, dressed in a small pair of shorts and one of his white shirts, wearing a scowl aimed at their neighbor. She threw a dark robe at Bruce and crossed her arms as she stood beside him in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Molly's eyes grew even wider as she looked from Selina to Bruce, who was now shrugging into the robe, to her disappointment. "Wow! You're hot, too! Holy crap, are you models or something?"

Selina was about to let her hormones take over and scare the girl off when a handsome, dark blonde-haired, tall man came into view outside and joined Molly on the doorstep.

"Oh, you'll have to forgive my Molly," he grinned, putting an arm around the blonde and smiling widely at Bruce and Selina. He spoke with a British accent and looked like he could be an actor or model himself, and Molly's blush grew as his arm snaked around her shoulders. "She can be a bit _exuberant_."

Then he extended a hand and said brightly, "Christian."

"Bruce," Bruce replied, shaking the man's hand with a nod.

She didn't particularly want to, but in the interest of not being rude, Selina shook his hand as well. "Selina."

"Bruce and Selina, lovely," he replied, placing his hand in the pockets of his trousers. "So are you the bloke that bought the island?"

Bruce nodded. "Yeah."

"Ah," Christian nodded. "Nice. I expected some old corporate fat cat, not an exceptionally attractive couple. As Molly has so clearly pointed out."

Molly blushed again and smiled sheepishly, then Christian added, "All right, well we'll leave you be, looks like we may have been quite rude in bothering you this early in the morning. It was my idea, I do apologize."

"Not at all," Bruce quickly said. "It was nice meeting you two."

Selina merely glared at Molly.

"Fantastic. We'll see you both around, I'm sure," Christian nodded, guiding Molly from the doorstep as they both smiled at their new neighbors.

"See you," Bruce nodded before closing the door and turning amused eyes on Selina. She, however, didn't look so amused. "What?"

"What do you think?" she snapped. "I'd say that little slut was undressing you with her eyes, but you were already undressed. So I'll settle and say she was eating you with her eyes."

Selina then turned and headed back down the hall, and Bruce followed close behind. "I was expecting about ten construction workers at the door, not a girl holding a pie in her hands."

"I think she wanted to hold more than pie in her hands," Selina rolled her eyes, walking into their bathroom and stepping in front of the sink.

She grabbed a comb and started running it through her dark locks as he stood behind her, looking at her through their reflections in the large mirror above the sink. "I have to say, this possessiveness thing is kind of a turn on."

"It's not possessiveness," Selina argued. "I just wasn't expecting to hear some girl swooning and telling you '_Oh my God, you're so hot_' this early in the morning."

Bruce grinned, kissing behind her ear as he looked in her eyes through the mirror and murmured, "Did that bother you?"

"Would it bother you?" she retorted.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you have any idea of the kind of looks you get every time we go anywhere?"

"Just looking is different," she said. "And anyway, I'm sure that'll change soon."

He furrowed his brows. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe because soon I'm going to be as big as a house."

He took his hands from her waist and moved them forward, unbuttoning the few fastened buttons of his shirt that she was wearing. She watched with a blank look as he pulled the shirt off of her, exposing her bare top half as he said, "I didn't think you could get more beautiful until the moment I found out you were carrying my child." His hands gently held her little baby bump as he added, "You get more and more beautiful to me every day."

"You're supposed to think that," she muttered, but she couldn't help the smile that crept up at his words. "Doesn't count."

He then turned her around, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her close against him. "Is this really bothering you?"

She shrugged, playing idly with the fabric of his robe on his shoulders. "No. I'm just adjusting still. And it's not easy for any girl to watch her body change so much so fast."

"Well," he said, "let me tell you what changes I see."

She looked up at him as he ran a few fingers through her hair. "Your hair is growing faster than I thought was humanly possible. It's also even shinier than it was before." He then reached down and took her hands in his, showing her nails to her. "These get so long so fast that you look like you just stepped out of a salon every day. I've got the scratch marks on my back to prove it." Then his fingers brushed the sides of her neck and moved down over her shoulders and then her arms. "Your skin really does have a glow to it. I'm not just saying that. It's brighter now, healthier looking. I think leaving Gotham contributed to that, too."

Then his hands moved to her chest, and gently, because he knew they were sometimes painfully sensitive now, he gently took a breast in each hand and held them softly. He heard her suck in a breath as he lowered himself down and pressed a kiss to each one, just above her nipples. Then he looked up at her and said, "You know I'm a fan of how these have changed."

She smiled and fought a roll of her eyes. So far, she was up almost a full cup size already, and she'd been ample to begin with. He grinned and kissed one again before getting down on his knees and bringing his face level with her belly. He gently kissed just below her navel before saying, "It blows my mind to think that a baby - our baby - is hidden in here right now, growing and getting stronger every day. I can't wait to watch you get bigger and be able to feel him or her moving around in there."

If she was the type of woman to melt, she was pretty sure she would have melted already a few moments ago, but this was just ridiculous. She reached down and took his face in her hands and guided him back to his feet, then pulled him to her for a kiss.

She kissed him slowly, her fingers on the trimmed, even growth that he kept on his jaw these days, and when she ended the kiss, she glanced up at him and said, "Thanks."

He smiled, and then she extracted herself from his arms and sauntered over to their shower.

She opened the door and reached inside to turn on the water and wait for it to get hot, and she remembered the first time she'd seen this shower when they'd moved in less than two weeks ago. Bruce had designed it specifically, and it was obvious - there were bars installed that didn't have a lot of purpose other than for her to hold on to over her head while he held her against the wall, and there was also a small surface in the corner at just perfect height for him to sit her on. The shower itself was ridiculously extravagant - it was the size of an average entire bathroom and there was not one, but five separate shower heads, all of them the absolute top of the line with about a hundred different settings, and one was placed so specifically and suggestively that she wondered if he used her height as a reference when he'd given instructions to the people who'd built it.

Either way, she wasn't complaining. She turned around and slipped out of her shorts as she turned her eyes on him. "You coming or not?"

* * *

A few hours and one ride on a speedboat later, Selina and Bruce were walking into her OB/GYN's office on the bustling island of Nassau, both of them excited to find out the news of the baby's sex but staying mostly quiet as they waited in front of the receptionist's desk in the waiting room.

Selina looked around the room, noting that she and Bruce were one of three other couples there. The other two had rings on their fingers, and the women were both at the end stage of their pregnancies, where they looked as if they were ready to pop at any moment. One of the women looked happy and excited, polished and well-groomed, while the other looked run down and exhausted with a rat's nest for hair, and perhaps on the verge of serving her unborn child an eviction notice.

Selina hoped that in five more months she didn't look, or feel, the part of the latter woman. Then Bruce's hand on hers got her attention.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah."

A moment later a nurse called them back, and soon, Selina was in a gown and sitting on an exam table, waiting for the doctor to arrive. She'd just found out that in the last month she'd gained ten pounds, and though she'd eaten lunch only an hour ago, she was already starving again.

She was imagining pork chops, of all things, when the door to the exam room opened and the doctor stepped inside.

Dr. Eva Jones was a kind, competent doctor, dark skinned and short-haired, accented and caring, and she smiled broadly at Selina and Bruce as she walked inside the room. "Today is the day, yes? Ready to find out what you're having?"

Selina smiled in response as the doctor quickly began the physical part of the exam, listening to Selina's heart, feeling and measuring her abdomen, and a few other things as Selina felt her anticipation rise.

As unexpected and terrifying as the pregnancy has been, and as much as she feared the future and feared all of the ways in which she could fail as a mother, she couldn't deny how much she'd been looking forward to this day. She glanced at Bruce as Dr. Jones prepared the ultrasound equipment, and he grinned happily at her.

He'd allowed himself to be much more openly happy about the pregnancy since the beginning, despite his own fears, and sometimes she wished she could do the same. But the problem was, every time she got close to reaching that point of full acceptance and peace about it, her doubts would rear their ugly heads and keep her just shy of it. Tack on her changing body, the nausea that had raged on for weeks, and now the incessant hunger and increasingly bothersome hormones, and her mind was no closer to peace than it had ever been.

The doctor reclined the table and Bruce moved closer to her in his chair, taking her hand as the room darkened and a flat screen monitor mounted on the wall directly across from Selina lit up. The ultrasound would be seen on the large monitor as well as the small one mounted on the actual machine, and before she knew it, the doctor had rearranged her gown and had placed the scan wand low on her belly.

Vague, unclear images flashed on the screen for a moment as Dr. Jones moved the wand around, searching for the nook that the baby was nestled in, and then an unmistakable shape of a perfectly round head appeared.

"Okay... that's the baby's head, obviously," the doctor said, eyes intent on the small screen in front of her as she performed the scan. "I'm going to be taking measurements of everything you see, so bear with me."

Selina glanced at Bruce, whose dark eyes were fixed upon the screen until he caught her gaze and returned her glance. The last time they'd gotten a glimpse of the baby, it had been very early in the pregnancy and resembled a tiny shrimp more than anything. But now, as the wand shifted on her belly just a bit, the outline of the baby's face became visible, and Selina's first thought was that he or she had her nose.

"All right, now we're going to see the spine," Dr. Jones said, running the wand down and highlighting the grooves and shapes of the tiny baby's spine. She took some more measurements, then moved on to the baby's chest area.

The doctor pushed a button and the room suddenly filled with the sound of the baby's rapidly thumping heartbeat.

It was the second time they'd ever heard the sweet sound, and when it went away, Selina wished it hadn't.

The doctor scanned the baby's heart and took more measurements, then looked over the rest of the forming organs, and it was some time before she spoke again.

"Okay... now let's see if we can't find out the gender here..."

Selina and Bruce stared at the monitor as the images shifted, trying to make out what they were looking at but it was difficult - they weren't particularly experienced with these sorts of things.

"Okay," Dr. Jones said, glancing at the couple, "ready to know the gender?"

"Absolutely," Bruce replied, and a flicker of excitement hummed through Selina.

"All right," the doctor smiled, turning the wand at an angle and squinting for a moment at the screen. "It looks like we have ourselves... a girl."

Selina grinned and looked at Bruce, who looked from the monitor to her and grinned back with one of the sweetest looks in his eyes that she'd ever seen. It was impossible to not fall head over heels in love with this baby, this little _girl_, when she saw how much in love Bruce already was.

Selina couldn't help but picture a small, dark haired and dark eyed little girl in her mind - smart, beautiful, and a born troublemaker. Randomly, the thought crossed her mind that she'd have a hell of a time dating with Bruce Wayne as a father.

Bruce's lips brushing her ear pulled her out of her thoughts. His hand tightened just a bit on hers as he murmured, "Helena."

The doctor glanced a smile at them as she finished up the scan, and Selina took a deep breath after Bruce kissed her lightly. They'd agreed on names for the child quite soon after she'd found out that she was pregnant, and now that the little person was officially to be Helena Martha Wayne, named for each of their mothers, everything had just become that much more real.

A moment later, the doctor printed out and handed Selina a roll of about six photos from the scan, and as she looked over the ones that showed the outline of that tiny little face of her daughter, Selina sighed. "Helena."

**A/N: aaaand welcome to the sequel! This is, of course, the follow up to You Look Better In Pearls, which I would definitely recommend reading prior to reading this, but, if not, bits of prior events will be explained because they'll be naturally coming up anyway. The title of this is taken (borrowed?) from the rather amazing song All I Want Is You by U2, and I plan on updating at least weekly, maybe more frequently but since I should be starting work at a new job soon, I'll just say weekly. :D I would like to thank midnightwings96 for helping me figure out the plot, reading pretty much everything I write before I post it, and generally making the writing process a lot easier :D As a sidenote, yeah, there will be a considerable amount of fluff here, but I don't want that to turn anyone off - this is BatCat, after all, and where there is BatCat, there will always be angst, drama, bickering, arguing, and... of course... a good dose of sex :D So stick around, because I think this will end up being one heck of a story, if I do say so myself. :D **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: 32 reviews for a first chapter? Have I told you guys lately how amazing you are? :D Every review makes my day, so thank you guys so much :) thank you to midnightwings96 for her help, she helped write a part of this chapter that badly needed some help, so an even bigger thank you to her than usual :D **

Living with Bruce Wayne had it perks - and quite a few of them for Selina. There were the obvious factors, like the money and the regular, earth-shaking sex, and the fact that he never could seem to ever tell her no to anything, and then there were the less obvious reasons. Selina kept most of those to herself, as they ventured into that deeply emotional territory that she still wasn't entirely comfortable dwelling in, but right now, she couldn't think of a single thing about the man that made up for the fact that he was an undeniable, horrible, completely ridiculously disgusting slob.

It was mid-morning a few days after they'd found out that Selina was carrying a daughter, and he was still sleeping soundly in their bed while she stood in the kitchen, glaring at the sink.

When they moved to the island, they'd agreed to split housework evenly after Selina had made it clear that she had no intention of playing the role of his maid. Bruce had kept up his end of the deal for a few days before slacking off, whether consciously or unconsciously, and until now she'd let it slide and picked up after him despite hating it. But now, after waking up way earlier than she'd wanted to and frustrated at being unable to drink the gallon of caffeine that she needed to wake up, she was staring at a sink full of dishes that he was supposed to have put in the dishwasher last night after wading through his dirty clothes that had begun to coat the floors of their bedroom and bathroom, and she was fuming.

She'd never been accused of being a clean freak, but this was ridiculous. How hard was it to throw your sweaty post-run clothes in a basket instead of the floor? Was it really that hard to hang up a towel once you were done with it so that it didn't get moldy from sitting wet on the floor all day?

And for the love of _God_, how hard was it to remember to scrape off your plate before chucking it into the sink to rot until somebody else cleaned it for you?

Steaming, she stomped towards the sink and turned on the faucet with g+ritted teeth. She made as much noise as possible as she threw the offending dishes into the dishwasher, her lips pressed in a thin line and her irritation reaching a level that it never would have without the aid of pregnancy hormones. Everything was heightened these days, the good and the bad, and at the moment, she wanted to break one of the plates over Bruce's thick head.

Instead, after clearing out the sink and washing her hands, Selina headed back into the bathroom, picked up a pile of the oldest, dirtiest clothes of Bruce's that were plastered to the floor, and dragged them into their bedroom.

She glared at Bruce, sprawled out on his back with a sheet covering his lower half, still happily sleeping, and with everything she had, Selina threw the clothes directly on his slumbering face.

She then watched, arms crossed, as he stirred and then slowly brought up a hand to knock away the clothes. His eyes opened and looked at the mound of fabric in confusion, then looked up and saw Selina shooting him a withering look.

He blinked, squinting a little as he came to full consciousness, and sat up in the bed. "Selina?"

"I am not your damn maid, Bruce," she spat. "I am not your butler. _That_" - she pointed to the pile of dirty clothes - "is disgusting. _You_ are disgusting. How old are you? 38? 39? And you can't even scrape off a damn plate? Or put your disgusting sweaty clothes in a laundry basket, or God forbid, a washing machine?"

Bruce stared at her, increasingly wide eyed.

"It's not bad enough that everything we eat, I have to cook because you're too helpless to figure out how to operate a frying pan. No, on top of that, you can't even pick up after yourself. Well, guess what, Bruce - I'm not a housewife. If that's what you want, you picked the wrong girl to knock up. So if you want to keep being a disgusting slob, hire a maid, because I sure as hell am not going to spend my life cleaning up after the little rich kid that never grew up."

She then stomped away, leaving Bruce looking bewildered, and letting out her frustrations on him in the form of her outburst didn't end up having the relieving effect that she'd expected. Instead of feeling better, she suddenly felt horrible over the last line she'd hurled at him, though she barely even understood why.

She walked out the front door and circled back behind the house to the beachfront, suddenly feeling the odd sensation of tears forming behind her eyes, and she almost laughed at herself - why in the world was she about to cry over calling Bruce a rich kid who never grew up?

She sat down in the sand at the edge of the water and buried her face in her hands, feeling ridiculous and all over the place, and feeling guilty about far more than merely insulting Bruce. In fact, she was sick of feeling guilty, and though she knew he didn't hold her previous misdeeds against her and had forgiven her long ago for her seemingly ages-old delivery of Batman to Bane, she still thought about it every day and dreamed about it frequently.

Every time that he woke up in pain from his back and tried to hide it, she felt guilty. Every time he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, she felt guilty. Every time she ran her finger over the scar above his brow that Bane's fist had left, she felt guilty. And at least one of those things happened daily.

And now, she'd gone from outraged at Bruce's untidiness to crying on the beach while mentally kicking herself for evidently becoming the poster child for hormonal pregnant women everywhere.

She wasn't surprised when a hand came to rest gently on her shoulder and a warm body sat next to her, but she wished he'd have stayed away.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, concern etched on his face as he tried to see past her guarding hands to her eyes.

When she didn't answer, he reached out a hand to her cheek and wiped away an errant tear. "Selina..."

"Just leave me alone," she muttered, dropping her hands and staring out at the water.

Bruce took a moment before he spoke again. "Look, I'm sorry... I'll do better cleaning up after myself. You're right. I'm disgusting."

She let out a humorless laugh. His brows furrowed, but he reached out to her again. She turned away from him, and he half-whispered, "Selina."

"Don't," she muttered.

"What's this about?" he asked gently. "I know it must be more than dirty clothes."

"And dirty dishes," she added flatly. She sighed and looked at him, thankful that his hair was covering up the scar above his brow, and as much as she didn't want to talk about all of the things rattling through her hormonal brain right now, she reminded herself that people in a relationship as deep as they were needed to talk. That's what she assumed, at least. It's not like she'd know from experience. "I..."

She suddenly froze, mouth still open mid-sentence, staring ahead, and Bruce immediately became concerned. "Are you okay?"

She held up a hand and narrowed her eyes slightly in concentration. He paused and waited, and after a moment, she finally spoke. "I felt her."

"You - she kicked? Or -"

"More like a nudge, kind of a flutter," she said, her hand going to her belly automatically. "But I definitely felt something."

Bruce grinned, and his smile grew wider when he saw one also slowly spread across Selina's face. She looked at him once more and felt the guilt dissipate at the sweet look on his face, and for a moment she was able to forgive herself for her past mistakes when she saw plainly the happiness that he now possessed because of her.

Behind them, the sounds of drilling and hammering began to fill the air as their regular work crew began their day's work on the house, and Bruce leaned in closer to her as he said, "Go get dressed. I want to take you out tonight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Take me out where?"

"One of the other islands. Somewhere nice. I'd say it's time we had a second date, wouldn't you?"

It sounded preposterous, and yet now that she thought about it, it was true - they'd been together for months now, and yet they'd only ever had one proper date. And that date had admittedly been anything but proper.

"All right," she grinned, surprised by how instantly excited she was to hit the town with Bruce, and even more surprised by how quickly her mood had made a complete 180 degree turn in the space of only a few moments.

And to think, she had five more months of this to deal with.

* * *

"What is that?"

Bruce squinted at the item in his hands. "I think it's a... is it a puppy?"

"It looks like a bunny to me."

Bruce squeezed one of the thing's legs, and a soft lullaby began playing. He grinned at Selina, and she rolled her eyes.

Most of the afternoon had dwindled by now, and Selina was starving, but she'd allowed Bruce to make one last pit stop on the way to dinner at a baby boutique that had caught both of their eyes. She felt completely out of her element browsing through the racks of tiny outfits and dresses, and most of the things were so pink and frilly that it was nearly obscene. Bruce, however, was gravitating towards the pinkest and frilliest of the pieces, and now he was sifting through a basket of infant toys and pretending as if he had any idea what he was doing.

"What do you think?" he asked, holding up the stuffed puppy/bunny for Selina to see.

"It's... pink."

"She's a girl, Selina."

Selina shrugged. "I'm a girl and I don't wear pink. Or have pink things."

"That's not entirely true," Bruce half-smiled. "You've got that little lacy pink thing that barely covers your -"

"No," she smiled, "I used to have that 'little thing' but you ripped it in half a week ago."

"Oh yeah," he grinned, and an eavesdropping, middle aged woman who was probably shopping for a grandchild shot them a pointed look as they passed. Bruce and Selina both ignored her. "Well, still, you get my point."

"Fine," Selina said, "you can buy all the pink things you want, but if she's anything like I was, she'll hate it in a few years and refuse to wear anything but black."

Bruce shrugged, following Selina down an aisle of baby health products. "I bet you were the type of kid who ripped off the heads of your Barbies and cut off their hair."

Selina glanced back at him. "You know me too well."

She glanced at a row of boxed products in front of her, and her brows furrowed. "Double electric... breast pump?"

She stared at the thing like it was an alien artifact. Bruce interjected, "Yeah, you use that to pump milk and save it or put it in a bottle."

Selina looked at him as if he had three heads. He shrugged and added, "I had a secretary who pumped for her baby. She needed breaks every two hours - it takes a lot of commitment, I guess."

"What would that even feel like?" Selina wondered out loud.

Bruce shrugged. "Are you going to breastfeed?"

Selina glanced at a pack of something equally strange labeled "nipple shields" and said, "I don't know. The doctor said it was better than formula. And easier. But I've never known anyone who did it and I don't know what to expect. Not that I know what to expect with anything involving this kid."

Bruce smiled. "I think you should try."

"Why," Selina asked, "so you don't have to get up in the middle of night and help me make bottles?"

He shook his head. "No. I'd still get up and help you if you needed me to."

"I'll hold you to that," she said, leaving the aisle of health products and wandering back into the sea of pink infant clothing and sighing as she let herself admit, albeit silently, that picturing Helena in a ruffled pink dress was actually kind of cute.

When she found a hot pink newborn-sized dress that was covered in black paw prints and had a black kitty embellished on the skirt of it, she grinned and plucked it from the rack. "This is more like it."

She handed it to Bruce and he took it with a slight shake of the head. "Hoping for her to follow in Mommy's... pawprints?"

"Better than Daddy's Bat-steps."

He raised an eyebrow. "Touché."

* * *

When they'd finally sat down to eat at the restaurant Bruce had chosen, Selina was far too hungry to notice how beautiful it was. They sat outside, under a canopy lined with stringed lights, mere feet away from the ocean's waves washing up on the shore, and there were only a few tables around them, leaving them mostly in privacy as they looked over the menu.

She barely registered telling Bruce what she wanted, and when he began telling their waitress what they wanted, she glanced up only out of boredom. However, when she did, her eyes immediately narrowed.

The waitress was young, pale and brightly red-haired, and she was also flirting so openly with Bruce that Selina had to wonder if she'd recently become invisible without realizing it. Bruce glanced at her, wearing the same slightly amused expression that he had when they'd met their neighbors, but Selina wasn't smiling.

"Are you _sure_ I can't get you anything else?" the girl smiled sweetly, a hand on the back of Bruce's chair and her body language practically screaming. "We've got a fantastic house wine, or -"

"No, really, it's fine," Bruce nodded politely, handing the girl their menus.

"All right. Well, you let me know if you change your mind, okay?"

Selina couldn't believe it, but then the girl winked. _Winked_, as if Bruce was sitting there alone, without a currently very angry looking woman.

She could understand, of course. Bruce was wearing one of his expensive suits, with an open collar and without a tie, and his hair was falling just right around his tanned face and landing nicely on the tips of his shoulders. He looked better than anything on the menu, and she expected girls to lust after him, but not so brazenly in front of her - not to mention twice in a week.

She'd dressed well for tonight too, donning a black strapless dress that draped just right over her and hid her growing belly, stopping mid-thigh and allowing Bruce a very good view of her legs and leaving plenty of room to show off the string of pearls on her neck. Her hair was down and stick-straight, nails red, and in all, it was the best she'd looked in weeks.

"Apparently, I've become invisible," she muttered, staring at her water glass, "and the next time that girl comes around, I'm going to snap her neck. Maybe then she'll notice that you aren't exactly alone."

Bruce tried to hide his grin. "Jealous Selina's back. I like it."

She shot him a withering look. "Want me to snap your neck, too?"

He didn't reply, but he did keep grinning, and it took all of her self-control to not reach across the table and slap the stupid smile from his face.

She all but inhaled her dinner when it arrived, and she was so relived to see food that she decided to spare the waitress's life for the time being. However, when the girl came around again wiggling her eyebrows at Bruce as she asked if he wanted dessert, a re-energized Selina finally snapped.

"Yes, I'm sure he does want dessert," Selina spat, finally causing the waitress to acknowledge her existence for the first time. "And I'm going to give him one hell of one later. So we're good for now, thank you."

The waitress sputtered and blushed before turning and nearly sprinting away. Bruce turned back to a satisfied-looking Selina and asked, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes," she said calmly. "It was."

"So is it also necessary for me to go deck the guy three tables away from us who's eating alone and hasn't taken his eyes off you once for the last twenty minutes?"

Selina glanced over and sure enough, an Italian-looking man in light, causal clothing was staring rather openly at her. He was handsome, but not outrageously so, and he nodded to her. She ignored him and turned back to Bruce. "That wouldn't exactly be a fair fight, but it might be a turn on."

Bruce chuckled, and the sounds of music began wafting through the darkening night air. Selina looked around to find the source and noticed a small crowd of folks growing just down the beach, surrounding a live band that was playing on the deck of another restaurant nearby. The music was interesting, reggae at its core but also spicy somehow, a mixture of other styles, and Selina realized that she couldn't even remember the last time that she'd danced.

Then she did remember. Her last dance had ended with a hard kiss and a swiped valet ticket.

Well, like their date tonight, there was a second time for everything.

"Bruce," she purred, her hand brushing his fingers across the table, "dance with me."

He looked at her warily for a moment before glancing behind him at the growing number of dancing couples. "I'm... not much for dancing."

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes. "I've danced with you before."

"That was different," Bruce insisted.

The man who'd been ogling Selina got up and headed towards the scene, and Selina sighed. "I guess I'll just have to make you dance with me."

"Make me?" Bruce repeated, but she was already on her feet and walking the short distance from their table to the crowd of people. She threw him a look of mischief as he twisted in his seat to watch her walk away, knowing that either very bad or very good things came from those looks of hers, never anything in between.

She left him, and her shoes, behind as she slipped into the crowd and found trouble as quickly as she'd hoped she would - Mr. Italian intercepted her faster than she could say jealousy bait in either of their native tongues.

"Well, hello there, beautiful," the man said in his thick accent, invading her personal space. He was less handsome up close and he reeked of way too much cologne, but he'd have to do. "I take it you saw me watching you."

"Would have been impossible not to," she snapped, holding her breath and stepping forward. "Subtlety's not really your thing, is it? Anyway, if you want to dance, now's your chance."

The man grinned and his hands found her hips without hesitation, and she glanced behind her to look for Bruce's reaction, but she didn't see him.

"Are you here on vacation with your husband?" he asked as she unenthusiastically swayed with him.

She thought for a moment about correcting him, and saying that Bruce was only her boyfriend, but the title seemed wholly inappropriate for what he was to her. He wasn't "only" anything. And "boyfriend" seemed too juvenile. "No. We live here."

"Really?"

"Really," Selina replied. She glanced around again and still didn't see Bruce. It made her slightly nervous. Randomly, she imagined him suddenly descending upon them from above, every bit as menacing without the Batsuit, and then proceeding to kick the Italian's teeth out.

The idea was actually quite a turn on, she thought to herself just before the Italian's hands were ripped away from her and he was thrown back into the crowd by the neck of his shirt.

Selina looked up to see an infuriated Bruce standing over her, and as she grinned at him, the Italian started cursing in his native language and hurled himself towards Bruce.

Without sparing a single glance behind him, Bruce caught the guy's fist in midair and twisted his arm with a loud _crack_, then tossed him out into the sand as he squealed in pain.

Some of the dancing couples and singles stopped and stared at the spectacle while Selina continued to merely smirk at her lover, who looked enormous and dangerous right now as he turned his angry eyes back on her. Then, quick as a blink, he'd reached out and pulled her against him, and she gasped pleasantly as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"The hell was that supposed to be, Selina?" he growled.

"Got you out here with me, didn't it?" she purred. "And who's jealous now?"

"Damn right I'm jealous," Bruce retorted. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh, I hope I do," she grinned, and then the real dance began.

They already had the attention of most of the others there due to Bruce's jealous outburst, so when they began dancing in the sort of way that nobody else was without so much as a thought to who was watching, they became the night's entertainment for the onlookers.

She felt like she was still in control and still level headed despite his hands gently caressing up and down her arms, dipping, and holding her like he was punishing her as much as dancing with her. Even when his hips sensually ground against her most sensitive of places, she still managed to stay (slightly) cool. Suddenly, he gripped her hips and pulled her around and against his hard, lithe body, her back to his chest. She immediately felt the evidence of how hot and bothered he was. His hands slowly roamed down the curve of her hips to where one came dangerously, daringly close to slipping under the hem of her dress that he was pulling up on her leg just slightly. Her breath hitched in her throat when she felt his oh-so-soft lips drag up her neck and over her jaw to her ear, where a husky whisper came out of his mouth and finally caused her lose her grip on things.

"_Get me out of here before I really give these people a show and get us both arrested._"

Her eyes went open and wide at his words, and she quickly turned in his arms and almost gulped at the almost ravenous look in his eyes. She was a woman who rarely blushed, but she felt heat radiating her cheeks as she took one of his hands in hers and began hurriedly leading him away.

The walk to the rental car was a blur, and Selina was still trying to get a full breath in her lungs after that look he'd given her by the time they finally reached the dark BMW.

Without a word, Bruce let go of her hand and quickly unlocked the car with the press of a button on the key, then opened the left side backseat door and looked at her. "Get in."

Oh, this was daring indeed, she thought - jumping in the backseat of a car like a couple of horny teenagers, and in the parking lot of a busy restaurant, no less. Maybe she'd have to make him jealous more often.

She slid onto the dark leather backseat and he quickly followed, closing the car door with a rough thud, and then he gave her one last burningly hungry look before he was on her, somehow mindful of her belly despite his roughness everywhere else, and she couldn't have asked for anything better.

His lips bruised hers and tongue fought with hers as his hands yanked at the top of her dress, but she managed to fight him off just long enough to get the annoying jacket off of his shoulders. Then she took the opportunity to swing her leg over him and straddle his lap, a move he didn't fight, and she matched his hard kisses while he went back to trying to claw off her dress.

He yanked, and the zipper on the side under her arm gave way an inch. He growled and then ripped until the dress was nothing more than a scrap of wasted fabric on the floor of the car, and then he tugged down her bra until it fell down her waist. He took a break from the chaos for a split second to look up at her, both of them panting and looking into the other's eyes as he asked, "Can I?"

Beyond a touch here and there, her breasts had been mostly off limits to him lately due to pregnancy making them terribly oversensitive, but right now, she was feeling risky, so she nodded.

He groaned lightly and leaned forward, starting with a kiss before he opened his mouth and took a nipple into his mouth. She gasped instantly, loudly, and clutched his shoulders, and he froze for a moment, unable to tell if it was a good or bad reaction.

"Don't you dare stop," she breathed, and he quickly obeyed.

She gasped again, and her thighs clenched around his lap while his tongue swirled and alternated between her mounds with his hand. She was pulling his hair and he was trying to understand why she was moaning as if his tongue was between her legs instead of on her nipples, and as her hips started rocking against him and back began arching, he followed her lead and kept up the pace with his mouth and fingers and was astounded when she started shaking and climaxed, just like that, in his arms.

She slumped against him and he smiled in slight confusion as he leaned back and lifted her chin with his finger to look into her eyes. "What... is that even possible?"

"Apparently, yes," she said, breathing hard and looking a bit shocked herself. She looked at him with heavy lidded eyes and then kissed him, feeling his hardness under her thighs and tasting his mouth with her tongue, reaching down with her hands to pull up his shirt from the confines of his belt as she kissed down to his neck.

She held his hands at his sides before she pushed his shirt up his chest and started kissing along it, tracing the scars with her tongue and making his breath come harder as she moved further down.

She was working on his belt when the sound of a car door closing nearby made Bruce jump. She was pulling him free of his pants when he said slightly nervously, "Maybe... maybe you shouldn't -"

"Don't be such a boy scout," she said in a low voice, taking his length into her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be quick."

"Selina -"

She took him into her mouth, and any further protests or doubts died in his throat as his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. One of his hands tangled in her hair while the other gripped tightly the handle of the car door, and he forgot where he was, that at any moment somebody might walk past their car and get an eyeful of something that could get them arrested. He let his head fall back against the seat behind him and lost himself in her, in the warmth of her mouth and the way that she was keeping her word on being quick, sucking gently but deeply, touching him and licking where and how he liked it most, proving how well he knew him, and when it all reached its peak, his fingers dug hard into the door handle as he let out a strangled groan and clutched her hair as she sucked him dry.

He was pleasantly limp and breathing heavy through parted lips when she gently refastened his pants and climbed back up into his lap. He tucked her hair behind her ear and then brought her close for a kiss.

"We've only got one little problem, Bruce," Selina murmured, pushing aside his sweat-damped hair and smirking. "You destroyed my dress, and now I have nothing to wear home."

"Maybe I did that on purpose," he said, looking down appreciatively at her figure.

"As long as you buy me a new -"

Suddenly, the bright light of a flashlight shined directly on them through the left door window, and with a jolt they scrambled off of each other. Selina grabbed her torn dress from the floor and threw it over herself as Bruce managed to leap into the driver's seat and quickly switched on the ignition before gunning the engine and speeding away with a squeal of the tires.

Selina laughed as Bruce sped away, looking back behind them and exclaiming, "I can't believe somebody called the cops!"

Bruce glanced at her through the rearview mirror, and she could tell he was grinning by the shape of his eyes. The cop didn't try to pursue them, and after they were clear, Selina slipped into the front seat and shot Bruce a devilish look as she gave up trying to make the torn dress cover her. "Was that your first time getting it on somewhere not entirely private?"

Bruce glanced over, looking over her only bra and underwear-clad body and replying, "Might have been. You're a corrupting influence."

She grinned. "Of course I am."

He gave her an amused side-look, and a few miles down the road he surprised her by pulling into a hotel that was about fifteen floors high and a magnet for the rich men that frequented these islands. He parked and turned off the engine, then turned to her and said, "I think our house will keep for a night, don't you?"

"That depends. Penthouse suite?"

"You have to ask?"

She grinned. That was one of the things she liked about him - he didn't care about money at the end of the day, and didn't have the love of it that corrupted so many other men and women in the world, but he had the best taste of anyone she'd ever known, and he knew how to put the money to good use.

He reached into the backseat and grabbed his jacket, then placed it around her shoulders. "Looks like this is as decent as I'm going to let you be tonight."

"Oh, please, Bruce," she smiled, giving a slight roll of her eyes. "We both know I'm never really decent."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Long chapter today! Thank you guys for all of your reviews, I love you all. Was a little surprised that a few of you were getting a bit weary of the smut, but in my defense, I put these two through hell in this story's predecessor, and let's face it, they deserved two chapters of fun. :D But never fear, because drama is always around the corner. Thank you, as always, to midnightwings96, who continues to be one of the planet's most awesome human beings. :D since this chapter is so long, I'll keep this short and shut up now :D**_  
_

_The afternoon sun was high in the sky as Bruce walked home from a quick trip to the small general store down the street on the island, a small paper bag in his hand as he walked up the steps to the front porch and reached into his front jean pocket for keys to unlock the door. When he placed the key into the hole, however, the door swung open of its own accord, and he immediately knew something was wrong._

_He never left the door unlocked when he left Selina in the house alone, never, and she wouldn't have left the door open. Bracing himself, he stepped inside the house and called out, "Selina?"_

_There was no answer as his eyes took in the sight of overturned furniture and broken glass littering the floor, and on the white carpet was a trail of what was unmistakably blood leading down the hallway, at the end of which was the bedroom he shared with Selina._

_"Selina," he called once more as he dropped the bag to the floor and felt a horrified panic rising up in his veins, choking him when he tried to call her name again as his feet raced him through the hallway. He walked over broken toys that littered the floor, fluffy stuffed animals that had been torn open and left staring eerily at the ceiling, and then approached the doorway of the bedroom, bracing himself for what he knew awaited him there._

_On the white walls and floor was more blood, some in handprints that skidded down and trailed off into nothing, and the floor was covered in bits of drywall that had been blown out and shattered by gunshots. His eyes didn't linger on these details, however, because he knew the worst of them was waiting on his bed._

_He crept forward, not wanting to look but not in control of his actions, and gazed upon the worst thing he had ever, and would ever, see - Selina, lying on her side and clutching their infant daughter against her chest, both pairs of eyes open but unseeing underneath perfectly round bullet holes between their brows. That was in addition to stab wounds throughout both of their bodies, even on little Helena, leaving the bed bathed in their blood that was still seeping from their lifeless bodies. In Helena's tiny, fat, bloodied arms was the stuffed lullaby-playing pink animal that was either a bunny or a puppy, the only thing still intact in the whole room, maybe even the entire house._

_He felt his heart, his life, the very fabric of his soul ripping apart as his legs gave out and he fell forward, his arms shaking violently as they wrapped around his dead family. It always came back to this, to death and loss and murder. The things he couldn't outrun or outsmart, the things that would never come for him but always came for the people that he loved._

_His falling tears mixed with their blood as he clenched his eyes closed, his mouth open in a silent cry that was too great, too terrible, for him to even know how to vocalize. His arm reached across Selina's body and his hand found his daughter's tiny, limp fingers, and he gripped them as his world literally dissolved around him._

Bruce awoke with a gasp, his eyes flying open and brimming with tears that he'd shed during the nightmare. His body was trembling and he was drenched in a cold sweat, and the images he'd escaped flashed before his eyes every time he blinked. He couldn't breathe but he forced hard gulps of air into his lungs anyway, and after the first, terrible moment of consciousness passed, years of practice in forcing himself to calm down after nightmares kicked in and he closed his eyes.

He couldn't erase the still very-vivid images from his mind but he did succeed in focusing on his breathing enough to turn his gasps to regular, short breaths, slowly dropping his rapid heart rate. When he felt like he'd regained control of himself, he wiped his brow with the back of his hand and tried to ignore the real fears lurking in his mind that caused these dreams. He'd made so many enemies over the years, and so had Selina. All it took was one tracking them down, seeking revenge or any number of other sinister desires, and his dream could become a reality.

Both his and Selina's nightmares had gotten better since they'd left the grim coldness of Gotham behind, but for him especially, some of them still managed to sneak through and pull his mind back into places he tried to stay away from. Sometimes they were dreams of memories, of his parents' deaths or of any one of the terrible things he'd experienced as Batman, and other times, like this time, they were something much worse. He knew his past, and he was well-acquainted with the demons that dwelled in it, but when his fears of the future gripped him, it was enough to make him lose his breath and temporarily lose every last ounce of peace that he'd managed to gain over the last eight months.

The room felt hot and suffocating, the only sound in his ears belonging to raindrops slamming against the house, and he could feel himself slipping into a dark place that he couldn't afford to be in again. There was only one way for him to find peace again, to calm the storm in his mind and remind himself that the wars he'd fought were over.

He looked over to the woman lying next to him, a thin sheet covering only her legs as she slept peacefully, obliviously, with her back turned to him, dressed in a black lacy babydoll nightgown that he'd bought for her only the day before that ended at her hips and covered her growing belly without leaving her overly warm as she slept.

He turned on his side towards her, gently so that he didn't disturb her, and brushed away some of her straight locks from her shoulder as his eyes fell upon the jagged scar in the center of her exposed upper back. It was the evidence of the legitimacy of his fears, the lasting mark left on her body by the Joker, an unfading reminder of the danger he'd allowed her to be put in.

He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her, curling it protectively over her belly as he nuzzled her neck, releasing a deep breath as he willed away the lingering dread and pain of the dream and reached for the peace that he could only find when she was close.

She stirred a little bit and he watched as her eyes fluttered open briefly before closing again. Her voice was hoarse with sleep as she asked, "What time is it?"

"Barely six," he replied softly against her ear. "Go back to sleep."

Instead of taking his suggestion, she turned in his arms and looked up at him, and he knew she'd see the shadow of his dreams in his eyes. She always did. And she also knew that he only woke up this early when a nightmare forced him awake.

"You okay?" she asked gently, nearly nose to nose with him, bringing a hand to his temple and brushing behind his ear some hair still damp from his cold sweat.

He nodded. "I am now."

"Want to talk about it this time?" she asked, not expecting the answer to be yes but offering anyway.

A part of him did want to talk about it. Another part couldn't bear to tell her the horrible things he'd seen, not when she was as prone to paranoia as he was and was still coming to terms with becoming a mother. "Nothing worth losing sleep over."

She didn't argue. Instead she let her eyes slowly close and settled in against his chest. "She's kicking right now. She's been kicking all night."

"Nocturnal like us," he grinned into her hair, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

She smiled slightly, opening her eyes as his fingers ran through her hair. "I dreamed about bacon."

He chuckled. "Bacon?"

"Yeah. A big plate of bacon. Nothing else. Just bacon."

"I can go get you a big plate of bacon if you want," Bruce offered, welcoming the distracting talk even if it was about pork products.

She shook her head slightly. "No. I'd rather have you than bacon. Right now, anyway."

She then shifted and placed her chin on his chest, looking up at him as she said, "It'll help if you tell me."

He paused as he looked at her, still not wanting to burden her with thoughts that he wished he could cast away and incinerate. "I just..." he paused, looking for the right words. "Now that I have something to lose again - a lot to lose - my nightmares aren't... always about the past anymore."

"You dream about losing me?" she deduced, looking down for a moment before amending, "Or us, I guess?"

He nodded. She stretched up and touched her lips to his, leaving a gentle kiss on his mouth before she said softly, "Those days are over. You get to be happy now."

From anyone else's lips, it was a hard thing to believe. But when she said it, he could believe that the worst was over and that now was the start of the rest of his life, the part of his life that he used to think would never come. When she said it, he could believe that those horrible things he saw in his dreams would stay in his dreams and never cross over into reality again.

He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her down and kissed her. Her hair fell around his face like curtains and after a moment, he rolled her over without breaking the kiss and cradled her in his arms, running his hand down her lace-covered side and bringing the fabric up her hip as his hand came back up.

Rain was still pounding the house but it had eased some, and Bruce didn't feel like he was suffocating anymore. He touched his forehead to hers as their long kiss ended, and he looked into her eyes as he softly said, "I love you."

They were far from a couple who threw those words around every day, or even every week. In fact, he wasn't sure if either of them had said it since leaving Gotham. They tended to find other ways of affirming their feelings for one another, and it worked for them. But sometimes, like now, the words simply needed to be said.

He didn't give her a chance to respond before he dipped down and gently lifted her lacy garment, then pressed a kiss to her belly just above her navel and said, "And I love you, too."

He looked up at Selina, hair falling into his eyes and a smile spreading across his lips when he saw the one on Selina's face. She reached down and brushed his hair aside as he asked, "Is she still kicking?"

Selina shook her head. "She stopped as soon as you talked to her."

"Really?" Bruce looked down at her belly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Maybe you calm her down," Selina said.

He wasn't used to having a calming effect on anyone, not even Selina most of the time. "I wish I could feel her kick."

"The doctor said you'll be able to soon. She's just not big enough for you to feel her through my belly yet."

He smiled, rubbing her belly softly and tracing a finger along a little line forming just above her hipbone, the start of her very first stretch mark. He didn't say anything, knowing that she'd find it eventually and that she probably wouldn't be happy about it, but to him it was beautiful, because it was another manifestation of the incredible little miracle that was growing within her, the gift that he didn't think he deserved but was being blessed with anyway.

Her fingers fell to his chin, curled around it and lifted his face so that his eyes were on hers again. "I love you, too."

He gently took her hand in his and kissed her palm, their gazes locked as something in the moment changed. Selina bit her lip and Bruce saw it and felt a slight clenching in his gut, but just as he lifted himself up and over her and started peppering the exposed curves of her chest with kisses, the doorbell rang.

He groaned and sagged over her. She furrowed her brows and said, "It's not even 6:30!"

"I told the crew to get here early today," Bruce sighed. "Since Alfred and Leslie's landing here in the afternoon and I wanted the guys gone by then."

Selina's eyes lit up a little at his words. "I almost forgot. I've been looking forward to seeing them all week."

He smiled and reluctantly rolled off of the bed, throwing on a pair of jeans as he said, "Getting sick of me already?"

"Never," she purred, rolling to her side and propping her head up on her arm as she rubbed her ankles together. A thin black strap of her nightgown was dangling off of her shoulder and, in all, Bruce found it very difficult to tear his eyes away, let alone make his feet walk away.

Then the doorbell rang again, and he rolled his eyes before leaving the room with another groan. Selina grinned to herself and then stretched out her arms and legs as she let out a long yawn.

She really had been looking forward to Alfred and Leslie's visit all week. Leslie was like a mother figure to her, and had been for years. She'd been there for both Selina and Bruce as a doctor and friend more times over the last year than Selina could count, and Alfred's presence was a welcome change for obvious reasons.

Selina slowly sat up in bed and turned her eyes towards the closed doors that led to the beach outside. She was also looking forward to Alfred and Leslie visiting because she was afraid that Bruce was already on the verge of becoming bored with their new domesticated lives. He spent most of the day working on the house with the construction guys, though he didn't have to, and when he wasn't doing that, he was usually working out or finding other busywork to keep himself occupied with. They would take walks together along the beach and take their boat to the other islands a few times a week, and as much as Selina was enjoying herself and as happy as she knew Bruce was, she knew him. And he would need something soon, maybe a new project or hobby, some kind of outlet for the abundance of obsessive energy left with nowhere to go following the end of Batman. Maybe, she thought, Alfred could help him with that.

When she rose out of bed she grabbed a short, silk black robe from a dresser near her bed and slipped it on as she continued on to the huge glass doors that separated the bedroom from the beach. First she reached up and gathered the long, flowing white curtains that hung over the doors and pushed them aside, looking out into the brightening and no longer raining morning sky outside of the glass as she heard a very distinct clicking sound come from the doorway across the room.

"Didn't I tell you that I'd take that thing and break it the next time I caught you sneaking up on me and taking pictures?" Selina asked pointedly, looking over her shoulders to see the still-shirtless Bruce holding an extremely expensive, large camera in his hands and wearing a grin on his face.

"Don't be shy," he replied, holding the camera up to his eye as he snapped another photo.

She rolled her eyes and opened the doors to let the breeze in. "I've never been much for pictures. Maybe one too many mugshots burned me out."

She turned and he took one more picture before lowering the camera as she walked to him, tossing it gently on the bed as she raised a hand to his face. "You have some of the best mugshots I've ever seen," Bruce said, his hands finding her waist.

"Had. They don't exist anymore," she reminded him.

"You're welcome."

She smirked and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "I'm going for a run."

* * *

Light jogging was one of the few kinds of exercise Selina could safely do while being pregnant, besides yoga and other low-impact methods, and it helped her from going crazy from lack of the kind of regimen she'd prefer to be on.

She did her runs along the two-lane road that cut through the island and wound around the houses that dotted the landscape, because she got her fill of the beach at other times and preferred running on pavement anyway.

There were only about thirty houses on the entire island, and most of them were vacation homes that appeared empty most of the time. There were a few other places she went by on her route, including a tiny post office and a general store that was also a cafe and a bar, but she'd yet to run into another human being on a run yet.

Her luck ran out, however, in the form of a flash of a blonde ponytail that appeared at her side halfway through.

Selina pulled the earphones to her mp3 player out of her ears and narrowed her eyes slightly as Molly, the loose-lipped, young, and beautiful neighbor, currently clad in a dark skin-tight tank and black yoga pants that showed off just how perfect her body was, waved and smiled broadly. "Hi!"

Selina didn't bother to smile back. "Hi."

"I thought I was the only one who ever jogs on this island," Molly said, slowing down to stay level with Selina. "Actually, before you moved here, I think I was the only girl here under 50."

Selina sighed, wondering how she was going to shake off the girl and return to solitude when she heard her gasp a little. She glanced over and saw Molly's eyes go wide at the sight of Selina's nearly five month baby bump.

"Oh my God! You're pregnant!"

Selina smiled, mostly to hide the eye roll she was fighting, and replied, "That I am."

"Congratulations! I didn't notice when I met you - did you just pop out in the last, like, week?"

Randomly, Selina thought back to her bacon dream and felt her stomach growl. "Kind of, yeah."

Molly smiled. "That's great. I love babies. _Ooh_!"

Selina looked at the younger girl, afraid of what was going to follow her excited "_Ooh_!", especially once she saw the wide-eyed excitement on her face.

"Have you had a baby shower yet?" Molly asked through a huge smile.

Selina glanced forward at the road and groaned inwardly. "No."

"Oh my God, I'm so going to throw you one!" Moly squealed. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Selina smiled weakly. "You really don't have to do anything -"

Molly waved a hand. "Oh no, I want to! Have you met the old ladies yet?"

"Old ladies?"

"Yeah, some of the older ladies that live here? Well, they live here some of the time, but anyway, they keep bugging me about when they'll get to throw me a baby shower and stuff, so they'll be thrilled! They're super sweet, too, you'll love them. Do you know if it's a girl or boy yet?"

"It's a girl," Selina replied, and Molly squeaked - actually squeaked - and covered her mouth with her hands.

"A little girl! Yay! Little girls are the best," she smiled, sighing. "What about names? Have you picked one out yet?"

"Yeah, Helena."

"Oh, that's pretty," Molly nodded. "Very classic. Gosh, she's going to be absolutely gorgeous. I mean, wow, you and your husband will probably make the most gorgeous babies ever."

"We're not married," Selina said, smiling a little in acknowledgement of the compliments although she wanted to roll her eyes until they ached and fell out of their sockets.

"Oh," Molly said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't assume. You'd think I'd know better the way people assume things about me and Chris."

"It's okay," Selina shrugged.

"Sorry about the other day, too," Molly said, a slightly sheepish look on her face. "I have this problem - I have no filter. Things just fly out of my mouth and I can't help it. It's really embarrassing sometimes. Like when I freak out new neighbors by drooling all over them before I know their names. I'd just never seen a better looking couple before. Like, ever. I thought you must be celebrities."

Selina grinned. Technically, of course, Bruce was a celebrity, so Molly wasn't entirely incorrect.

"Anyway, I'm rambling," Molly chuckled somewhat nervously as they turned a corner and started heading back to their homes. "So are you guys going to live here full time?"

Selina nodded. "That's the plan."

"That's great," Molly said. "We live here like three fourths of the year. Christian works in the oil industry, and he oversees some drilling they do around here so that takes up most of his time. He's from London, so when we're not here we're usually there."

Selina sighed almost inaudibly. If she was stuck in this conversation for the next half mile, she may as well start contributing. "And where are you from?"

"LA," Molly replied. "That's where we met."

At this, Molly suddenly got quiet and stared out at the road in front of them. Selina figured it best to let that one go.

Then Molly perked up and asked, "Where are you guys from?"

Selina knew they had to be careful with this sort of information, especially now that they weren't using aliases, so she shrugged and said, "Kind of all over. We spent some time in Italy earlier this year."

"Oh, I love Italy," Molly half-swooned. "Christian took me last year. We spent a month in Europe, and I got to see Rome, Venice, Paris, Madrid... so beautiful."

Selina almost sighed in relief when her house came into view in the distance, knowing she'd soon be free of the well-meaning but slightly annoying girl, but Molly had other ideas.

"Are you hungry? I made these muffins last night, oh my gosh they are so good, you have to have one. They've got cranberries, orange zest, I even put some -"

"Oh it's fine, really, I should probably -"

"Oh, come on, please? Christian's making breakfast, too, and he makes a killer omelet. We haven't had company in ages, and we've got a ton of food that we can never eat all by ourselves."

Selina hesitated as they approached the winding driveway that led to Molly's house behind a row of palm trees, but then her extra-sharp (thanks to pregnancy) sense of smell picked up the scent of cooking bacon wafting from the house. It smelled so good that she almost shuddered, and she thought she might die if she didn't immediately shove an entire package of bacon into her mouth.

"Oh, why not."

Molly smiled and clapped her hands. "Yay!"

* * *

An hour later, Selina walked inside of her house more stuffed than she'd possibly ever been before. She'd eaten an omelet that was ninety five percent bacon, had two of the muffins that Molly had talked about, which turned out to be even more delicious than Molly had said, and it was all washed down with a fresh-fruit smoothie that Christian had insisted Selina would love. She did, of course, and it was all so delicious that it made being around the happy couple's PDA almost bearable.

Selina followed the sounds of hammers and drills to the unfinished side of the house and found Bruce in the room that they'd decided to designate as Helena's nursery, and he was fixing some loose floorboards with a hammer and nails when she stepped into the doorway and knocked on the frame. He looked up and then sat back on his heels, setting the hammer down and jerking his head to toss his hair back as she walked into the room.

"I was wondering when you'd get back," he said.

"You'll never believe this," she half-smiled, "but I just had breakfast with the neighbors." She then produced a muffin and held it out to Bruce. "Eat this."

He took the muffin and raised an eyebrow to her as she sat next to him. "The neighbors? You mean Molly and whatever his name was?"

"The very same," she replied. "She hijacked my jog and then offered breakfast. I smelled bacon and couldn't resist. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never even really liked bacon before." She then paused and eyed his hand. "Eat that muffin before I do."

Bruce glanced at the muffin in his hand and then tore off a piece from the top of it as Selina shifted so that she was half-sitting behind him. She took his hair in her hands and pulled it back behind his head, running her fingers through it to smooth it out before slipping a hair tie from her wrist and using it to gather his hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"Wow," he said after he ate the piece of the muffin. "That is really good."

"I told you," she said, scooting back to his side. "By the way, we need to buy bacon."

He nodded, looking at her as he chewed. "Is this the start of the weird cravings?"

She glared slightly. He shoved another chunk of muffin into his mouth and swiftly changed the subject by waving his hand around the room. "This room's almost done. A couple floorboards came loose so I was fixing that, but otherwise, it's ready for us to fix up."

She looked around and then said, "What color are we painting her room?"

"I was thinking... maybe light green and pink."

He expected the grimace on Selina's face. "Really, Bruce?"

"Well, what do you suggest?"

She sighed. "I guess there's no getting around pink. But maybe yellow instead of green. Or black."

Bruce chuckled. "Better yet, how about pink and cheetah print."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "Actually, that might work."

Bruce grinned and placed an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned her head on him and closed her eyes. "I'm ready for a nap already. This sucks. I thought I was getting my energy back."

"You are," he assured her, his fingers running up and down her upper arm. "You're a lot better than you were a month ago. You're probably just in a bacon coma right now."

She laughed. "I ate like fifteen pieces. I'm not even joking. I probably gained five pounds."

"The more I have of you to hold, the better," he said, kissing her cheek.

She scoffed. "Yeah right. Careful what you wish for, Bruce."

He grinned as she extracted herself from his arms and got to her feet. "Where are you going?"

"Bed," she said, heading for the door. "Wake me up when Alfred and Leslie get here."

* * *

The list of people that Selina was comfortable with touching her belly was extremely small, but right now, as Leslie tenderly touched her bump and fought off tears watering behind her eyes, Selina couldn't help smiling back and feeling genuine warmth sweep through her.

"Oh, Selina," Leslie cooed, enveloping her in a warm hug on the doorstep of the house that afternoon. "You look wonderful, dear."

"Thank you," Selina said sincerely, the older woman's hands holding hers as she pulled away. Leslie had a new stripe of gray hair in her medium-brown bob, but her face seemed younger somehow than Selina had remembered.

"Are you taking care of yourself?" Leslie asked, her tone turning motherly. "Taking your vitamins? Eating well? Getting plenty of sleep?"

Selina smiled and nodded. "Trust me, even if I wasn't, Bruce would make sure I was."

"Good," Leslie smiled, looking down at her belly again. "Little Helena. What a little miracle."

And she was nothing short of a miracle, Selina knew that for sure. She'd been in the earliest, most delicate stage of pregnancy when she'd been stabbed by the Joker back in Gotham, and she'd lost half her blood as well as suffered a collapsed lung from that single wound alone. Helena shouldn't have survived, but she had. It made Selina think the child had a lot in common with her father already.

"Come on," Selina said, gesturing to the back of the house, "I want to show you what I get to wake up to every day."

"Oh, you're going to make me jealous," Leslie smiled, following Selina inside the house as she led her to the back door.

"No need to be jealous when your own house is getting built across from ours as we speak," Selina smiled, leading Leslie to the deck that overlooked the beach just outside of their kitchen. "Consider this a sneak preview."

Meanwhile, Bruce was treating Alfred to a role reversal, playing butler and carrying his and Leslie's bags into their only finished guest room, which sat on the upper level of the house directly above his and Selina's room. "How's it feel to take a vacation, Alfred?"

"No complaints so far, sir," Alfred replied, following Bruce up the staircase. "How does it feel to live on vacation?"

"No complaints so far," Bruce grinned.

"No old habits trying to resurface?" Alfred asked as they walked down the hallway and quickly reached the guest room's door.

"Don't think so."

"Not getting bored yet?"

Bruce eyed Alfred a bit suspiciously. "Do I seem bored?"

Alfred shrugged as Bruce set the suitcase down next to the queen sized bed in the center of the room. "Not at all."

"I've been working on the house, staying busy with that. I finished the... Helena's room today." Bruce paused and smiled a little. "I'm still not used to this."

Alfred smiled. "Not used to being happy, sir?"

Bruce shook his head. "I keep waiting for the ground to give out from under us. Like something's just... bound to go wrong."

"The ground looks pretty firm to me," Alfred replied.

"Yeah," Bruce said quietly, glancing down at the floor between them.

"Don't mind me asking, but have you given any thought to making your relationship official?"

Bruce looked up. "You mean get married?"

Alfred nodded. "I'm just curious."

"I've given it a lot of thought," Bruce admitted. "I'm just afraid to bring it up. She's adapted so much for me, and we've moved so quickly at times - she spent months on the verge of panicking and running, and I don't want to go back to that."

"If I may - perhaps Miss Kyle deserves a little bit more credit than you're giving her."

As Bruce paused and considered the older man's words, Selina and Leslie leaned forward on the wood railing of the deck as they watched the ocean's waves roll up and off of the sandy white beach, in the middle of a slightly similar conversation.

"I know he'll get bored soon," Selina sighed. "I'm afraid I might too. I love him and I love it here, I just... worry. I've been running so long and now that I'm not, I don't really know what to do with myself."

"Give yourself time, dear," Leslie said. "You've got plenty of time to figure that out. You can be anything you want, do anything you want to do."

"That's just it," Selina smiled. "I've gotten so used to doing what I had to do that I don't even know what I want to do."

"I'm sure Bruce can say the same for himself," Leslie said. "Maybe you can help each other figure it out. You're both young. Money's not an object. Don't talk yourself into unhappiness."

"I'm not," Selina quickly said. "I guess I'm just... a part of me worries that this won't be enough for him."

Leslie took a moment before she spoke again. "As you know, Selina, Alfred knows him better than anyone. And Alfred tells me that this is what Bruce has spent his life wanting but never truly thought he'd get."

"What if it's not all he's built it up in his head to be?" Selina wondered out loud.

"Has he given you any reason to be fearful of this?"

Selina sighed and lowered her head into her hand. "No. I'm probably just being stupid and overthinking... I'm all over the place lately. I completely freaked out on him the other day because of laundry. _Laundry_."

"That's quite normal," Leslie said. "Your body is going through a huge change right now and your hormones are basically out of control - you should probably expect it to only get worse until you deliver. And then you'll have a whole other set of challenges to deal with."

Selina glanced at the older woman unenthusiastically. "That's encouraging."

Leslie laughed and patted Selina's shoulder. "Just talk to him about all of this. Tell him what you've told me."

Selina nodded. Maybe it was time they had a semi-serious talk.

* * *

Leslie and Alfred turned in early after dinner that night, still recovering from their long flight from Gotham to the island, and Selina found herself sitting outside on the steps that led down from the deck to the beach, her bare toes in the sand and hair swaying slightly in the breeze while Bruce clanked around in the kitchen, doing his best to clean up. She knew she'd have to go behind him and touch up what he'd missed, but that was okay. Effort made all the difference.

When he eventually quietly stepped outside, she shifted to the side to make room for him to sit next to her, and he quickly accepted her invitation.

"You've been out here awhile," he observed, settling down beside her.

"Yeah," she said, "just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

She sighed. "All the different ways that we could crash and burn and watch all of this blow up in our faces."

Bruce paused for a moment, staring blankly at her. "Sorry I asked."

She chuckled, and he cracked a smile with her. "You know enough about me to know that happiness has never exactly been my thing," she sighed. "I've been in survival mode for so long. I don't know how to get out of it." She looked at him and added, "And I've managed to convince myself that you're bored and miserable."

He fought back a laugh at the absurdity of her words. "Are you serious? Have I done something to make you think that?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just have a lot of time on my hands to think now, and I'm afraid that one day you'll wake up and realize that you need more than me - than this - to be happy. I mean, be honest, Bruce - you can't tell me that there isn't a part of you that wants to be out there again."

"By 'out there' do you mean Gotham?"

"Not Gotham specifically," she said. "Just... out there. Fighting for what you believe in."

"I'm exactly where I want to be, Selina," Bruce said. "And I'm finally starting to realize that there's other ways to fight for what I believe in."

"Like what?"

"I didn't say I've figured it out yet," he half-smiled. "But I'm going to. Look... I know we aren't the kinds of people content to sit around a house all day every day and... I don't know... watch time pass us by. I know you need more than that. And so do I. And we can be anything we want to be now."

Selina smiled as he echoed Leslie's words. "It's so strange. I don't have the slightest clue what I want to be."

He brushed her hair behind her ear and said, "You'll figure it out. I'll help you if you need me to. And whatever it turns out to be, you'll always have my full support."

"What if I wanted to go back to my old, wicked ways?" she asked, a gleam in her eye. "What if I decide that at the end of the day, I'm still just a jewel thief?"

"You've never been 'just' anything," he replied.

"That doesn't answer my question."

He smirked. "I guess I'd just have to start chasing you across rooftops again."

"That's your version of support?" she retorted, returning his grin.

"It is when you know that all you have to do is ask and any piece of jewelry you could ever want would be yours."

"Maybe that's not as fun for me as just taking it."

"Well," he sighed, "if that's the way you choose to go, just make sure and wear that catsuit again."

She rolled her eyes. "One track mind."

"Hardly," he scoffed with a grin. "Actually, I had something I wanted to talk to you about as well."

She sat back a little bit, noting the slightly nervous quality of his expression.

He shifted and looked down at his hands for a moment. "Do you ever think about... the next step? For us," he quickly clarified.

He didn't miss the very slight, very hidden way that every muscle in her body stiffened. He doubted anyone else would have noticed, but her instant, gut reaction was clear to him. "You mean getting married?"

He nodded, feeling extra cautious now in anything that he would speak next. "Yeah."

Her eyes went slightly wide. "Are you proposing?"

"No," he said quickly, almost blurting it out. "No. I'm just talking to you."

"Honestly, Bruce," she said, closing her eyes slowly and then opening them again, "I'm trying not to freak out right now, and talking about this isn't going to help."

He nodded and looked away towards his feet, and she felt a tug in her chest. She'd known that this conversation was going to happen sooner or later, but right now, trying not to drown in a sea of hormonally as well as naturally heightened emotions while talking about marriage was enough to make her want to rip out her hair and scream. All of that, plus the fact that Bruce was hiding his disappointment at her reaction, also made her want to suddenly burst into tears, because she now felt horrible for reacting the way that she was. "Bruce -"

"No, it's fine," he shrugged. "You're right. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

Him apologizing made the tug in her chest turn into a hard kick. "No, Bruce, I -"

He silenced her with a kiss to her forehead as his hand gently cupped her cheek. "Selina, I understand. Really." He pulled away and smiled softly. "I'm going to take a shower. See you in bed?"

She nodded, refusing to cry or appear as if she was about to cry until he was gone. Once he had walked back inside the house and she felt safely alone, she rolled her eyes and smacked her face with both palms before, feeling ridiculous and stupid, allowing herself to shed the tears she'd been painfully forcing to stay behind her eyes.

She didn't know that Bruce had begun to walk back out to the deck to retrieve the sandals he'd left out there before he saw her shoulders trembling and her head in her hands. He backed away slowly then, unsure of what to do and eventually deciding to let her be. He wished he hadn't brought it up, and decided not to again until she gave him some indication that she was ready for that conversation.

When she was done crying and began steeling herself to go back inside and forgive herself for disappointing Bruce, she thought to herself how much she'd like to kick herself right now. And at that exact moment, Helena kicked her.

She laughed humorlessly and placed a hand on her belly. "God, you're a brat already."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: thank you guys so much for your continuing amazing support, reviews, etc., I love you! Since I'm now working and have less writing time I'm making sure to write long chapters since they're only coming once a week now, I hope that's an ok trade off :D anyway, again, I love you all, and I shall shut up now :D**

_"I was wondering what would break first..."_

_Her fingers clutched the steel grate that separated her from the scene unfolding before her, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever felt so cold before in her life. It was a chill than ran deep into her bones, nearly paralyzing her, the result of the crushing regret that she knew she wouldn't escape for a long time, perhaps ever._

_"Your spirit..."_

_Bane picked up his enemy and hoisted him over his head. Selina felt the bile rising up in her throat, along with self-loathing and guilt that she'd never felt until now. Collateral damage had always been just that, just a side effect of what was necessary, but this - this was different. This was a mistake._

_A terrible mistake, just like he'd told her only moments ago. This would haunt her._

_"... Or your body."_

_Her fingers clenched around the bars and she felt her blood run cold._

_Crack._

Selina's eyes fluttered open, and as she felt her recurring dream slip away only to surely come back in the future, she sighed and brought a hand to her face.

She hated that dream. She hated the crack that would echo about in her head endlessly after she'd wake, no matter how used the dream she should have been by now. She'd been having it ever since the night the ghastly memories were formed, and instead of her relationship with Bruce easing the guilt that fueled the dream, it seemed to only exacerbate it.

After a moment she rolled over nearly silently to find Bruce's side of the bed empty, but a glance across the room revealed him to be limping stiffly away towards their adjoining bathroom. His leg brace was off and leaning against the foot of the bed, but the limp wasn't what was causing the the obvious tension and pain throughout the rest of his body.

She knew when he was in pain and when he wasn't, knew the way he held his shoulders and stiffened his fingers when he had bad days and awoke in misery from his back. And she knew today was one of the worst yet, judging by the way it was taking him a pathetically long amount of time just to walk across the room.

When the bathroom door closed behind him she felt the tears start forming behind her eyes, and this was not how she wanted to start her day, but she had about as much control over her emotions these days as she did the weather. By the time she heard the door open and Bruce started limping back to bed, her pillow was already soaked and her morning was on track to being horrendous.

She managed to halt the flow of tears as he lowered himself carefully into bed beside her and slid in close over the sheets, but as soon as his arm snaked around her waist and his lips lightly kissed her jaw just under her ear, he tasted the trail of her tears and furrowed his brows.

He hadn't even known that she was awake. "Selina?"

She clutched the pillow under her head and refused to turn and face him. She closed her eyes and hoped in vain that he wouldn't press the issue.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied.

His hand gently applied pressure on her shoulder, trying to make her turn, but she didn't budge. She heard him sigh and the bed shifted behind her as his arms left her, and then a few seconds later, he was in front of her, kneeling down before the bed and looking at her with eyes that could kill her if she let them.

His thumb brushed away her fallen tears and she felt new ones form at his touch. "I'm just... hormonal, whatever," she muttered. "I'm crying over nothing."

"You don't cry over nothing, Selina, not even with the hormones," he said gently. He looked at her through a thin veil of some stray hair dangling in his eyes, the pieces that had fallen from its tie behind his head in the course of his sleep, and he added, "Just tell me. Please."

Him pleading almost made her soft crying become a sob. "I don't want to."

"Why?" he asked quietly, soft eyes burning her moist one as his fingers continued brushing across her cheek.

"Because I don't think I can handle you telling me that everything's okay right now," she said through slightly gritted teeth.

"So then I won't," he replied.

"Yes, you would," she half-rolled her eyes. She could see it still now, how he was straining just to stay upright as he knelt in front of her, and she could hardly stand it.

It was all ridiculous - her crying, his concern, his forgiveness that she'd never actually accepted because she'd never forgiven herself, and his fingers on her skin felt like they were burning suddenly. She sighed and sat up, tossing the sheet from her body and planning to put some distance between herself and Bruce until the guilt passed and she could compose herself again.

She threw on one of his button-down shirts that he'd left on the edge of the bed the night before and swiftly rose from the bed, muttering, "We should get ready to leave. We'll need to take Leslie and Alfred to Nassau in the next two hours."

It was the older couple's last day visiting, and Bruce hadn't yet finished the paving of a landing strip on the island so they had to catch their jet home on the bustling island of Nassau, and Selina was now looking forward to the distraction of an excursion to the city more than ever.

But Bruce didn't seem to want to let it go. He was back on his feet and grabbing her hand before she could even blink. "Selina, come on."

She closed her eyes. "Bruce, I'm serious."

"I know you had the dream again," he suddenly said, stopping her in her tracks.

She turned and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Then why did you ask me what was wrong if you already knew?"

"Because you usually don't cry when you wake up," he replied softly.

"But how did you know?"

He paused uncomfortably for a moment before reluctantly answering. "Sometimes... you talk."

_Great_, she groaned inwardly, cringing and opting to change the subject quickly. "It took you almost five minutes to walk to the bathroom," she pointed out. "You're trying to hide it but -"

Her voice started to break and she was now fighting new tears, and it only succeeded in pissing her off. Bruce stepped closer to her and tried to reach out to her but she slapped his hands away, harder than she'd meant to, and then she turned around and suddenly kicked the bathroom door with all of the anger and frustration that had nowhere else to go.

The door flew open and slammed against the wall on the other side, leaving a deep hole where the doorknob had connected with the wall, and as impressive of a kick that it was, she'd thrown it sloppily and she now felt instant pain shooting up all the way from get toes into her calf. She ignored the pain, however, and held a hand to her forehead as she said, "I can't stand it. I keep trying to forget but I keep dreaming about it and I hate seeing you like this."

"I'm fine, Selina -"

She whipped around, giving him a knowing look. "You're in pain, it's written all over you."

"It's a little worse today but by tomorrow I'll be -"

"I never regretted anything in my life, Bruce," she suddenly interrupted, her voice growing harder. "I never believed in regret. I've always done what I had to do and I was okay with that. And then you changed everything."

He wasn't sure what to say, so he stayed silent. Selina in her normal state was difficult enough to handle at times, but this was on another level entirely.

"I thought it would get better with time," she said, "but it's getting worse. The more I feel for you, the more I hate myself."

"I don't want you to hate yourself," he half-whispered, stepping closer to her again. She didn't turn or shrink away this time. "I told you a long time ago that I forgave you."

She shook her head slightly. "I can't forgive myself."

Bruce stared softly at her for a moment, knowing full well how she felt and also knowing that there was probably nothing he could say that could truly make it better. All he could do was speak from experience. "You have to. You can't change the past. I've spent years wishing I could and wishing I could take back my mistakes and it never brought me anything but more pain."

She sighed. He was right, of course. "Remember when we went back to Gotham and it took Blake about five minutes before he compared me to Miranda Tate and told you that you shouldn't trust me?"

Bruce blinked and reluctantly nodded. It hadn't been one of Blake's best moments.

"I told myself that it didn't bother me and I sure as hell didn't let it show but it did. I felt stupid for it but I'll always have what I did hanging over my head."

He gently took her face in his hands. "Listen to me."

She looked up into his eyes and said, "Don't you dare try to tell me that getting beaten and broken and thrown into a pit was a good thing, or that you learned from it and needed to go through it to beat him."

"I did," he said simply.

She shook her head again. "If that helps you deal with what you went through then good, I'm glad you've found a way to deal. But I can't. Hearing you say that doesn't help me."

"Then tell me what does," he said.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

He paused for a moment, and then looked down as his fingers started unfastening the buttons of his shirt that she was wearing. He then pulled it down her shoulders just enough to expose them, and his finger ran over the scar that marred the front of her left shoulder, created by a gunshot from the Joker only a matter of months ago. "I caused this."

She almost opened her mouth to protest, but then he'd lowered the shirt down further and his hand moved to her back, where he traced the scar given to her when the Joker had stabbed her and nearly killed both her and their unborn child. "I caused this too."

She understood what his meaning was, but it just wasn't the same. She'd signed up to fight the Joker earlier that year, insisted he let her help, whereas the pain she'd caused him had been very much the result of a betrayal. He was comparing apples to oranges.

"We've both made mistakes," he said, trying so hard to make her understand that she didn't have to carry her guilt any longer.

Selina sighed and shook her head before she leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before saying, "It's not the same."

Then she walked past him and went to her dresser to find clothes for the day, and Bruce knew this was something that she would have to resolve on her own and reconcile in her own mind. He understood such things quite well.

With few more words between them, they dressed and began the day.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Alfred and Leslie wasn't terribly difficult because in only another month or so, their own house on the island would be liveable and Bruce and Selina be seeing a lot more of them when that time came. Still, once the moment came, there were pangs to be felt all around.

"I'll see you soon, dear," Leslie said as she gave Selina light squeeze on the runway next to the private jet whisking herself and Alfred back to Gotham. "Enjoy the sun and the heat for me. It's already snowing back home."

Selina pulled back and grimaced. "Snow is just one more thing I'll never miss about Gotham."

Leslie nodded in understand and patted Selina's belly lightly. "Can you believe you're already halfway through the pregnancy?"

Selina raised her eyebrows apathetically. "More like finally."

Leslie smiled. "My patients tell me the last two months are the longest, so expect time to go even more slowly later on."

Selina groaned and then glanced to her left, the sight of Bruce and Alfred smiling as they said goodbye warming her for a moment. She really was glad they'd be around more often in the very near future.

One or two more hugs later and the couple was safely tucked into the jet, and Bruce took Selina's hand as he led her from the runway and towards their parked car at the airfield's entrance.

"I'm glad you have him," Selina said quietly, glancing down at their joined hands.

Bruce looked at her, squinting a little under the brightness of the noon sun, and gave a small smile. "So am I."

The rest of the walk was silent, and for the most part, so was the ride back towards their docked boat on the other side of the city. Bruce had taken a fistful of over-the-counter pain relievers before they'd left the house and they'd made the pain in his back bearable enough to where he could walk normally again, and Selina was grateful for that. She'd managed to get her mind off of the events of that morning when Bruce pulled into a gas station and stepped out to fill the tank before returning the car to the rental shop.

While he pumped gas, Selina walked inside of the gas station to pee for the hundredth time that day, and learned that the available bathroom was one of the kinds that you had to get a key for and walk around the outside of the building to get to. She grabbed the key from the attendant and trotted outside quickly, cursing the more annoying side effects of pregnancy the whole way.

Afterwards, when she stepped back outside and turned to walk back around and return the key, a soft sobbing sound got her attention. She looked around, and all she could see from this particular area behind the gas station were the backs of other buildings behind it and a narrow road separating them, and as she prepared to leave again, she heard a whacking sound and another soft cry.

She narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, scanning the area more closely. That was when she spotted the opening of a very small alleyway about a hundred feet down the narrow road, and a more masculine growl confirmed that the sounds she'd been hearing had indeed come from the alley.

From there, she acted on instinct. Silently, she stepped on to the road and walked quickly towards the alley, stopping when she reached the entrance and keeping to the wall as she peered down at the scene.

It was one that she was no stranger to, a young girl cowering and crying while a much bigger man bullied, brutalized and yelled at her. The unique thing about this, however, was the well-defined round shape of the girl's belly, which only served to further fuel Selina's anger at the abusive man.

Well aware of her own more delicate condition, Selina waited until the man's back was turned to her, and then she wasted no time springing into action.

As silently as she'd approached, she entered the alley and slipped up behind the man, enjoying the familiar burst of adrenaline in her veins as she raised her fist and delivered a blow to the back of his oversized, bald skull, which disoriented him long enough for her to strategically punch his head again and knock him unconscious.

With a pathetic groan, he crumpled to the dirty ground and Selina found herself face to face with the girl, who was staring down in shock.

Selina cracked her knuckles. "Not going to lie - that felt good."

The girl's wide eyes snapped up. Selina grinned. "You okay?"

"I ... no," the girl replied shakily, her dark skin marred by some blood dripping from her nose and her whole body shaking. She looked to be as far along in her pregnancy as Selina, but she didn't look healthy. Her dark eyes were sunken and her arms and legs were clearly bony under loose, ragged clothing, and her coarse black hair was as dirty as her bare feet.

Selina felt her cell phone in her pocket vibrate, but she ignored it. "I hope this idiot isn't the father," she remarked.

The girl looked up sadly. "He is."

Selina pursed her lips. "What's your name?"

"Anita," the girl replied, hugging her arms close to her chest.

"I'm Selina. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Anita allowed her to take her by the elbow and guide her to step over the unconscious man's body and head towards the end of the alley. "Where do you live?"

"I... don't exactly..."

"Live anywhere?" Selina guessed.

Anita nodded slightly. "I've been staying at the shelter across the street. He wanted to come see me and apologize for last time..." her voice trailed off as she began to cry again.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that with a guy like that, there won't ever be a last time, just a next time," Selina sighed, guiding Anita out to the road.

Anita glanced back nervously. "What about him...?"

"I'd suggest you call the police," Selina replied.

"He said he'd kill me if I did."

Selina clenched her jaw. God, how she hated guys like the one she'd just knocked out. They made her very bones tingle with anger and hatred. "They all say that, sweetie. Where's the shelter?"

"Across from the gas station, but I -"

"Come on," Selina said, tugging her elbow again and walking her past the gas station. She glanced at Bruce when he came into view, his phone to his ear as he called her for the fifth time while he paced up and down the parking lot looking for her. His shoulders slumped in relief when their eyes met, and she nodded to him before turning her eyes to the buildings across the street. "You need to get somewhere safe."

Anita hesitated but she didn't refuse, and as they crossed the street, Bruce watched them and got back behind the wheel to take the car to wherever it was Selina was heading.

The shelter was medium sized, a stand alone building that was one story high and looked run down from the outside, like it had once been a rather nice looking place but had been very neglected. Letters were missing from the name plastered above the building's front door, which would have spelled Nassau Women and Children's Shelter if intact, and Selina sighed.

Next to the shelter, a row of finely maintained salons and restaurant dotted the roadside, and Selina wondered why that was how it always seemed to work, no matter the city or even country.

"All right," Selina said, walking up the front steps to the main entrance and stepping inside with Anita.

Instantly, she felt a sense of deja vu. The almost hospital-like smell of the place, the exhausted looking volunteers flitting about, ringing phones, and women at the front desk trying to get a safe place to spend the night with their children - it all took her back to an earlier time in her life.

Selina herself had spent time briefly at a shelter, when she'd struck out on her own after breaking free from her currently imprisoned mentor, Marcus Michaels, during her young adult years in Gotham. It had only been a few days while she got her bearings and figured out how to make it without his help, but she'd never forgotten the bleak atmosphere of the shelter and the plight of the women and children whom she'd met there.

"Anita!" a voice called out suddenly, as Selina's mind returned to the present. A pale, heavy set woman who looked to be in her fifties and had a head full of short half gray, half black hair came trudging out from behind the front desk and began approaching them. "Where were you? You didn't go see him again, did you? Are you - is that blood?"

Selina felt Anita start shaking next to her with new tears, so she turned to the woman and decided to do the talking. "He's unconscious in an alleyway across the street. He'll be out for about another half an hour if you want to call the police."

The woman stared at Selina for a moment before sighing. "Brenda Peters."

"Selina Kyle," she replied.

Brenda put an arm around Anita and said quietly, "Come on, let's end this once and for all. Go back with Gina and she'll help you file a report and get you stitched up. This has to end, Anita, or you and that baby are gonna end up dead."

Anita nodded, letting herself sob again, and a woman who Selina assumed was "Gina" appeared and began to take Anita behind the main desk. Before she left, though, Anita turned and looked at Selina and choked out through her tears, "Thank you."

Selina nodded. When the girl was gone, Brenda let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her short hair. "Third time that girl's gone off and seen that son of a bitch. Last time he kicked her in the stomach. Put her in the hospital for a week, it's a miracle she's still pregnant. Anyway - thank you for bringing her back."

Selina nodded, still taking in the slightly chaotic scene around her. Kids were whining and babies were crying, and one mother was sent away with what appeared to be toddler twins, apparently due to a lack of room. "Is this the only shelter in Nassau?"

"There's one other that's run by the parish down here but it's tiny. To make things worse, our funding just got cut." Brenda shook her head.

"How?" Selina asked, genuinely curious.

"The bulk of our funding came from Nassau General Hospital," Brenda explained. "But they had a board overhaul and merged with the only other hospital here. I say 'merged' but really they shut them down... anyway, the new administrator cut our funds in half. Nobody seems to think there's enough battered women here to justify the funds we need to run. It's ridiculous."

_Of course_, Selina thought. "What happens to the women you have to send away?"

"We tell them to try the Catholic shelter. If they're full, they come back here and we figure it out."

One of the volunteers called out to Brenda that someone from the hospital was on the phone for her, and she quickly turned to Selina briefly before dashing off. "Thanks again."

Selina nodded, and lingered for a moment before turning and heading out of the building. She was still feeling like she was in the middle of a flashback, but this was worse. The shelter in Gotham that she'd crashed at had been funded by the Wayne Foundation and had been like the Ritz compared to this. This was pathetic, especially for a city as wealthy as this one.

She was focused fully on her thoughts when she got into the rental car, which was parked at the building's entrance. She closed the car door and Bruce raised his brows at her while she stared forward and didn't notice his expression.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell happened?"

He put the car into gear and started backing up. "I saw a guy beating on a pregnant girl in an alley behind the gas station. I knocked him out and took her to the shelter."

He executed a rather hard brake as he prepared to turn back on to the highway, and stared at her with wide eyes. "You did what?"

She glanced at him. "What?"

"You're pregnant."

"You don't say."

Bruce gritted his teeth. "Selina, one kick to your stomach and she's dead. One fall and she could die. Why didn't you call me? I would have -"

"I'm not an invalid," Selina interrupted and retorted, "and I'm not stupid. I snuck up behind him and dropped him with two hits. He never even saw me, so calm down."

"That was reckless, Selina."

Something in his tone made her narrow her eyes and shoot him a glare. "I told you -"

"I know what you told me," he snapped, "and you know I'm right. There was no reason to put yourself, or the baby, in danger, when I was right there."

She wasn't sure if she'd ever heard him speak to her like this before. His voice wasn't raised but it was angry, and she suddenly realized why he was so outraged. Yes, she'd been careful, but she knew how unpredictable any sort of violent situation could become. She also knew how terribly Bruce feared losing her and Helena, and she now felt like she'd slapped him in the face by attacking that man and risking hers and the baby's safety without fully even realizing it.

She tore her glare from Bruce and stared angrily out the window. She was suddenly back on the brink of another hormone-fueled meltdown, but she wouldn't let it get the best of her this time. Instead, she kept her gaze stony and hard as she wondered to herself if Bruce even realized that he'd already made her feel like a failure as a mother.

* * *

She didn't say another word to him the entire rest of the trip home, and he knew better than to try to get her to. He'd barely docked their boat when she bounded out of it and stomped to their house.

She wanted to be alone, but she had the feeling he'd follow her wherever she tried to seek refuge, so she opted for an early evening shower behind the safety of a locked bathroom door.

Some of the anger had waned by now and she knew that he hadn't intended to make her the feel the way that he had, and she was also beginning to suspect that under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have interpreted his words in the way that she had. Or maybe she would have - it was hard to tell anymore.

Either way, her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to be the first to talk, she mused as she stood in the center of their huge shower and inhaled the steam rising up around her. She wanted to make the water as scalding as possible, as that's how she'd always preferred it, but for the sake of her belly's little inhabitant, she kept it just moderately hot and tried to enjoy it the same.

She didn't hear him pick the bathroom door's lock, and she also didn't hear him gently open the shower door a moment later. Her head was leaned back under the running water, rinsing her hair when she jumped at the feel of two large hands on her shoulders and a hard body behind her.

She didn't know why she was startled - he had a history of interrupting her showers like this.

He turned her in his arms and looked into her eyes as she returned her breathing to normal. "I'm sorry," he said softly, sincerely in that meltingly earnest way of his.

Times like these she realized how much of a sucker she really was for him, because she could almost forget why she'd been angry in the first place. Almost. "I'm sorry too."

Those weren't words she took lightly, and he knew it. He pulled her against him and kissed her, and her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back in relief.

Drops of water were falling from his face down to her neck as he deepened the kiss, gently brushing her tongue with his until her hands on the back of his head pulled him closer and gentle became fast and bruising. Vaguely, she wondered if this was their way of "making up", not knowing because until today, they'd never truly argued enough to require making up.

Soon she was between Bruce and the wall that had the dubiously-placed bar installed just over her head, and as his lips trailed down over neck, his hand fumbled behind her for a moment and then the four other shower heads sprang to life - all on different settings, all rotating on their own, turning the shower into something that felt like a cross between a jacuzzi and a waterfall.

This was his first time showing her this particular feature. He brought his lips back up to hers and then grinned as he looked down at her. "Like it?"

"I have the feeling I'm about to like it even more," she replied, pushing his soaked hair back on his head and out of his eyes. The steam was even thicker now, and the walls around them were fogged completely, reminding her of something out of a movie as he kissed her again. His hands roamed from her hips to her backside, where he gave a squeeze before sliding one hand down her left leg and gripping the back of her knee as he bent it and brought it up to his hip.

He'd kissed her into a panting frenzy when he moved his lips to her ear. "Hold on to the bar."

She did as she was told, and then his eyes drifted down to her chest before his lips followed, almost beyond his control. She gasped, finding the contact painful at first but the discomfort faded quickly into the pleasure that she was used to.

When he came up for air, leaving small kisses along her collarbone and shoulders as he went, he straightened out her leg with his hand and then gripped her ankle. "Still flexible?"

"Do you have to ask?"

He grinned and lifted her leg high, then placed it on his right shoulder. She didn't raise an eyebrow, and her belly wasn't quite big enough to impede the effort yet. He turned his head slightly and kissed her ankle before he reached a long arm toward the nearest shower head and detached it from its mount.

She glanced down as his thumb prodded at the controls on the device, and he lowered the temperature slightly of the water flowing from it as he explained, "Thought we could try something different."

Before she could reply, he placed it between them and started slowly running the water up and down her inner thighs. "This is just the standard setting."

He took his time letting the heat do it's job before he directed the stream where it would do her the most good, and she closed her eyes in response. He leaned in, kissing her parted lips before murmuring against them, "Then there's the massage setting."

Her grip on the bar tightened with the enticing change, but he wanted to see more from her. He flicked his thumb after another moment and said, "Circular massage."

Her eyes opened and she let out a gasp, one of her hands leaving the bar and grabbing on to his neck. His free arm held on to her waist, so he could hold her up just in case she started to slip, and his own arousal started aching as he watched her enjoy the perks of the shower he'd built for her entertainment. She bit down on her bottom lip as her hips started moving of their own accord, and her nails were digging into the back of his neck, but he was enjoying the pain as he changed the setting just one more time. "Pulsating massage."

She moaned this time and her leg trembled on his shoulder. She arched and her nails sunk deeper, and breathlessly she said, "Keep - keep it like that."

She opened her eyes and shuddered when she saw the hunger mirrored in his own, and the flutters that his lustful looks still brought forth in her gut even after all this time only increased the intense pleasure she was feeling. She let her mouth drop open and let her voice do what it wanted, let her body tell him how much she was enjoying this because she knew how much he loved when it did.

The water pulsed and pushed her further and further as his mouth moved to her ear, his breath hot and teeth gentle as they nipped at her lobe, and she pulled at the ends of his hair as she felt the familiar tightening start to take hold at the center of her tension. His lips kissed down her neck and his tongue flicked out on the most sensitive place there just as she couldn't take anymore and unravelled - she let go of the bar and held on to him as if for her life, and her leg gave out from under her as she shook and moaned, but he held her tightly and chuckled as her stumbling forced them to the shower floor.

There was nothing in the world like watching her come undone, he thought as a smile crossed her lips and her chest heaved with heavy breaths. She was now half in his lap and half on the slippery floor but fully satisfied, and when he pulled her fully into his lap she wrapped her shaking arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment as she regrouped.

"Sometimes, you really do have the best ideas," she said, pulling back and looking into his currently very dark eyes. She knew it was taking all of his self control to give her this moment and delay his own gratification. Lucky for him, she didn't need long.

She turned in his lap, pressing her back to his chest and shifting her hips until they were aligned, and then she brought herself down and heard him groan into her ear as she gave him what he needed.

She turned her head to catch his lips with hers and his hand cupped her cheek to pull her closer, devouring her mouth with his as she moved on him, doing most of the work for him and holding on to his hair like an anchor. He was losing it fast and she was on the cusp of the same, angling for him to hit her walls perfectly and achingly satisfyingly, lost in him and lost in the the emotion that was behind every touch, even on the floor of a shower.

It was so much more than just sex, far more than a mere physical impulse, and when he shook and gasped into her ear as she climaxed a second time and squeezed around him until he saw stars, she let her head fall back on his shoulder and closed her eyes, neither of them even close to being aware that they'd long since run out of hot water.

Selina's eyes finally opened a moment later as Bruce took in deep, heavy breaths, lightly kissing her cheek and reaching a hand across the shower and turning off the lukewarm water before falling on his back and taking her down with him. They stayed there long enough to recover, staying silent until Bruce started to sit them up again.

"Don't want to sleep here?" she teased. He grinned and got to his feet, then opened the fogged-up shower door and grabbed two towels from a rack conveniently placed just next to the shower.

When he returned, he wrapped one of the towels around his waist and then helped pull her up to her feet, then wrapped the second towel around her before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her out of the shower and towards their room.

"Sure you should be doing this, considering your back?" she asked, enjoying the ride regardless.

He shrugged. "I'm not going to let pain dictate what I can and can't do."

_Fair enough_, she thought as he carried her into their room and gently laid her down in their bed. Their windows were open and letting a cool breeze inside as the sun set on the ocean outside, causing bright pink and orange streaks to color what few clouds were in the sky, but Selina only had eyes for the man settling in by her side, not so much the landscape, as stunning as it was.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, turning towards him as her dripping hair soaked the pillow beneath it.

He propped up his elbow on his own pillow and placed his other one around her waist. "Ask away."

"You spent eight years locked in the east wing of Wayne Manor, and the only human being you ever allowed to see you was Alfred. Am I right?"

"I'm pretty sure I saw Lucius once or twice in that time," Bruce replied, "but yes."

"Okay. And before that, you were in love with a woman who kept you locked inside the friendzone from hell. And before _that_ - you spent years in a temple on the other side of the world with a bunch of other men and not a single woman."

He looked slightly amused. "Right. What are you getting at, exactly?"

"Well, when I also take into consideration how you told me before that your playboy side was mostly an act, I can't help but wonder how exactly you managed to become so... educated and skilled in certain things."

"Natural ability?" he suggested, grinning.

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you learned what you know during your college years."

He didn't reply, but kept the amused smirk on his face.

"Sorority girls?" she ventured. He shook his head. "A girlfriend?"

"I dated a few girls but I didn't exactly have a steady girlfriend," he answered.

"So..."

"Look," he said, "I don't really want to know about lovers that you've had in the past, so I'd rather just..."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You just told me that I'm your first-ever actual girlfriend. It's not going to bother me to know."

He sighed. "You won't stop until I tell you, will you."

She shook her head and smiled. "No. So spill."

He paused and shook his head slightly before speaking. "Her name was Samantha. She was a professor's assistant, and she was... older."

Selina leaned forward, intrigued. "How much older?"

"I was twenty. She was thirty four."

"Well that's not so drastic," Selina said. "You've almost got that many years on me."

"Thanks for reminding me," Bruce muttered.

Selina grinned. "So, I don't suppose you've kept in touch with this 'Samantha'. I'd almost like to send her a thank you note."

Bruce snorted and shifted, laying the back of his head down on his pillow. "No. I only knew her for a few months before she changed jobs and moved."

"Must have been a good few months, though."

Bruce gave her a sideways glance. "You almost seem like you're turned on talking about this. It's weird."

She chuckled and snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest. "No, it's just... interesting imagining you as an inexperienced college student who needed an older woman to educate you."

She smirked up at him and he pressed a kiss to her hair after glaring down at her half-heartedly. A moment of silence passed before the grin faded from her face and she said, "Anyway, don't worry... I wouldn't want to tell you about that part of my past any more than you'd want to hear about it."

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "You know my story. Marcus took me in when I was thirteen. I'm sure you can guess what sort of things I did to survive living around the scum of the earth."

She rarely spoke of her past, and he never pushed her to delve any deeper than she already had. He shifted them and turned to face her, placing his hand on her cheek as he held her close and looked into her eyes. She swallowed a sudden emotional lump in her throat and changed the subject. "I won't go looking for a fight again. I wasn't thinking."

"I won't make you feel like shit again," he replied softly. "I wasn't thinking either."

"I thought I hid how I felt better than that," she muttered, frowning at his words.

He gently shook his head, tucking a wet piece of hair behind her ear. "Not from me."

Then he kissed her, and she doubted she'd ever want to hide from him again.

The rest of their night was quiet, and when Selina slept, she didn't dream of sewers or broken backs, instead replaying the sounds of crying children and the pleas of their frightened and desperate mothers from earlier that day at the shelter. It was a flash of Anita's bloodied face that awoke her in the middle of the night, and as she lay in bed and recalled her dream, an idea crossed her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! In my defense, I've been slightly busy with filing for divorce (and representing myself because I'm too broke to afford a lawyer) and I now work two jobs. Blah! Thank you all for your reviews and support, it means the world to me! One of you asked how old Bruce and Selina are in this story, and I'm not sure if this is entirely accurate to Nolanverse timeline but he's 39 and she's 28 here. I think in TDKR she was 27... but I'm not entirely sure about that. Anyway... on with the story! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long! :D**

It was mid morning one day in the fifth month of Selina's pregnancy, a breezy, lazy morning for Bruce as he went about his usual routine of eating a small breakfast and then heading to his newly finished gym room to work out. He didn't exercise out of necessity anymore but mostly because it gave him something to do, and though nobody else in the world seemed to believe him, it really did help ease the aches and pains of living post-Batman.

The gym was on the first floor, down the hall from the master bedroom and past Helena's work-in-progress nursery, and on his way there, a glimpse through the open door of his bedroom caught his eye.

Selina was awake, and was currently lifting off of her elbows and holding her whole lower body in the air from her position on a yoga mat placed just a few inches in front of the open glass doors that led outside to the white sandy beach. White curtains billowed but didn't quite touch her, and he watched as she slowly lowered her body back down and sat up with far more ease than her ever-growing belly should have allowed.

Now in her fifth month, she looked every bit a pregnant woman. Her belly was narrow but stuck out sharply, giving the impression that perhaps she'd swallowed a small basketball by accident. One stretch mark had become about ten, creeping up along her hips and extending to the sides of her baby bump, but she hadn't despaired over them as long as he thought she might have. What she did despair over was the generous amount of acne she was now sporting on her previously flawless face, and she'd ranted for a good week about how it would have been nice for someone to have warned her about that particular side effect of carrying a child.

One of her coping mechanisms was exercise, and aside from light jogs that she avoided on days when she wasn't feeling particularly social (because Molly always seemed to conveniently be out for a run at the same times), she had begun doing a great amount of yoga.

Like anything she ever did, she threw herself into it as hard as she could. They were alike in this way, he mused as she came to stand on one foot and extended her arms while stretching out her other leg far behind her, and her poise and balance was impressive, even more so when he considered that she was balancing an entire other human being in addition to herself.

She was wearing only black yoga pants and a black sports bra that barely contained her, and her tied-up hair allowed him to see all of her lovely bone structure and features that he never tired of committing to his memory. He loved all of her different faces - the masked one, the one she wore when she was seducing him, and even the angry, stubborn one that he was seeing a lot of as her pregnancy progressed, but this face - the clean, makeup-free one, the peaceful, focused, unguarded one - this might have been his favorite.

Maybe. He knew he'd never decide.

He had no idea how long he'd been watching her from the doorway when her eyes opened and she finally noticed his presence. She smirked at him, and her seductive face colored the peaceful one. "See something you like?"

"'Like' seems too weak of a word," he replied, stepping forward as she lowered herself down to her knees.

She pressed her palms on the floor and arched her back, then rolled it, slowly, as if in waves. "You must have gotten a good start to your day."

He looked her over, his eyes running down her back and falling on the small of it, ignoring the scar that sat higher up and instead focusing on a small, perfectly round little birth mark that sat there. He'd always thought it was cute. "Kind of hoping it gets even better."

She then rose to her feet, placing her palms down in front of her on the floor and bending at the waist, her head grazing the floor as he came closer. It was a delicate position to be in with him around, but she wasn't worried. "Oh?"

She felt fingers on her back then, touching gently and running down to where the fabric of her pants began and then back up again. She made sure that he couldn't see the shivers that his touch caused.

When she straightened, they came face to face, Bruce at her side and smiling slightly, a familiar desire shining in his dark eyes. She stared back at him, glancing down at his lips and leaning in just until their lips brushed, and then pulled away suddenly as she bent herself backwards, her palms finding the floor under her head and legs tightening as she lifted up her middle as high as she could.

It wasn't a position she could hold long, all things considered, but she was happy with it anyway. She glanced up and Bruce smirked down at her, closing his parted lips and reaching out again. This time his hand ran over her belly towards her chest, and the shivers returned when he brushed over her very-nearly spilling breast.

She closed her eyes as he ventured further, slipping his hand underneath the bra and taking her right breast fully in his hand. He wasn't one for mindless groping, he always made it count, and now was no exception. A gentle squeeze and a rolling of her exceptionally sensitive nipple, and she bit back a groan as one of her legs started to give out.

He didn't have to, because she was only a few inches off the floor, but he caught her. His arm quickly wrapped around her back and he lowered her down to the mat, a grin on his handsome face. "I love that you can't resist me."

"It's not that I can't," she purred, running her fingers though his hair as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "It's just that I don't ever want to."

"Keep telling yourself that," he teased, looking down at her lips and wanting to kiss them but holding himself back. "Even if you wanted to, you couldn't say no to me."

She raised her eyebrow. "I believe that's your dilemma with me, Bruce, not mine with you."

He nodded. "So say I said or did something, and really pissed you off... more than anything I've done or said before... and you hated me for a moment. Wanted to throw things at me and hit me with a frying pan."

She couldn't help but smile at his words.

"And, in my attempt to distract you," he said, lowering his lips to the hollow of her neck and kissing there softly before looking up again, "I start to do this."

"This" became a series of soft, heated kisses all over her body - her throat, her shoulder, her chest, the valley between her breasts and all around them, her belly, the sides and tops of her hips, all the while as his hands gently tug down her pants and the lacy garment underneath, exposing her to him. He placed a chaste kiss to the top of her mound, then looked up. "How about now? Could you still say no if you wanted? Tell me to stop?"

She was already wet and she knew it, and the longer he stared at her like that, playful and dangerous, the more her insides squirmed with arousal. But she played along. "Of course I could."

He raised a brow to her, clearly not believing her, and in an act of challenge, he ran his tongue along her throbbing, hot nub and watched her eyes become unfocused and the breath leave her lungs. "So tell me to stop."

She opened her mouth but he did the same, and all she got out was a gasp as he started sucking gently, closing his eyes briefly as if to savor her. When he looked up at her again, his expression was darkened and the corners of his mouth turned up in a grin at the dazed look on her face.

"Tell me."

She opened her mouth again, and swallowed her words yet again when he began his assault all over again, mercilessly, perfectly, maddeningly. Who was she kidding, she quickly decided - he had her wrapped around his finger just as tightly as she had him, and she would never turn this down, not even to make a point. Once upon a time, sure, she would have, but they were far past those games. Now their games were usually like this, fun and playful, challenging and the best kind they'd ever played with someone of the opposite sex.

She twisted her fingers in his long hair as he continued, and she thought at one point that she saw one of his arms shift underneath him, and she wondered briefly if he had slipped a hand into his own pants until she felt the telltale tightening in her center, the tensing at her core that warned of her coming end, and she welcomed it with a moan that she begrudgingly decided the cocky bastard had earned the right to hear.

He'd never dare stop until he was sure that she'd ridden out each last wave of pleasure, and one of these days, she'd have to remember to thank him for that . But every time she began to, he'd look up at her with that self-satisfied grin, the one that told her how much he knew how good he was, and she'd roll her eyes and decide against further inflating his gorgeous head.

She heard a rustle of fabric and then his hand was back at his side, and she pretended not to notice - for now. He kissed up her thighs and then started on the dark stretch marks at her side, murmuring as he did, "I told you you couldn't say no to me."

She'd never admitted it to him, but she loved the way that he accepted and even adored the changes in her body that other men wouldn't have. But he knew without her having to say the words. "And I told you, why would I ever want to?"

He looked up again, still wearing that obnoxious grin. "Good point."

She fought another roll of her eyes, and decided to wipe it off in her own well-practiced way. She sat up slowly and gripped his collar, pushing him down to the floor on his back and working through the buttons with ease, kissing down his neck and feeling the poke of his hardness on her thigh as she straddled his waist.

It wasn't until he was a panting, writhing mess of anticipation underneath her that she started to unbutton his jeans and inch her hands closer to where he wanted them. Her lips were trailing down his hard chest, crossing over scars and marks that she gave soft kisses to as she moved over them, but just as she passed over his navel and started to run her tongue down the newly exposed skin underneath it, she suddenly stilled and looked up at the clock across the room. She gasped a perfectly fake, shocked gasp and said innocently, "Is that the time?"

She looked down at his confused face and kept up the insanely falsely innocent facade as she said, "Sorry, honey - I've gotta go to work." Then she pressed a tiny kiss on his cheek and winked as she pulled back. "Rain check?"

She then bounded up and off of him, and he watched her in a mixture of bewilderment, amusement, and mostly, overwhelming and soon to be painful frustration.

"Are you serious?"

She looked back at him, still halfway lying on the floor and wearing a tortured expression. It wasn't the first time she'd left him hanging and she doubted it would be the last, so she smiled and suggested with a shrug, "You can cash that rain check later when I get home. Or -" she motioned to his hands with her head, "if you just cant wait that long, you can imagine it and handle things yourself."

"You're a volunteer," he pointed out. "You can be late."

She shook her head. "I prefer being punctual."

Then she swept out of the room, and Bruce let his head hit the floor with a groan.

* * *

Every day that Selina spent at the shelter, she felt like she was leaving paradise at home and entering a much darker, soul-taxing place, like she left the fantasy of her life with Bruce and stepped back into the dim reality of the world outside of their bubble. But in a way, it felt good to spend some time in that darker reality, and as mentally exhausting as it could be when she watched bruised and battered women come and go from the shelter, it helped to fill the void that her happiness had allowed to open.

She was helping people again, people who needed it most. She'd been where they had been, and although some of them inevitably returned to their abusers, many did not, and that made all the difference.

Anita, who most other shelter volunteers expected to last maybe another week after Selina had knocked out her unborn child's father and brought her back to the shelter, had surprised the staff by staying and was being moved to a permanent residence today in one of the few complexes set up for low income, high-risk citizens on the island. Selina had made sure to talk to the girl every day that she'd worked at the center, and by now, she'd venture so far as to say that they were friends.

When she arrived at the shelter for her seven-hour shift, she headed first for the small room at the back of the building that Anita had been occupying and was vacating today, and smiled when the girl opened the door after she knocked and greeted her with with a warm smile of her own.

"Moving day," Selina said cheerfully, stepping inside the tiny room with the girl. Her one suitcase was opened on a cot that was shoved against a wall and stuffed with what little she owned.

"Yeah," Anita smiled. "Kind of nervous."

Anita was a small girl, just a few inches over five feet, and she'd come a long way in the last few weeks, physically and emotionally, from where Selina had found her. She'd looked sick then, underweight and malnourished, which for a pregnant woman was particularly dangerous, but she'd put on some pounds since then and no longer had the grayish tint to her dark skin that she'd had then. Also gone were the circles under her brightening brown eyes, and all in all, the simple fact that her abuser was now behind bars was doing wonders for her health.

It made Selina proud to see Anita getting on her own two feet and embarking on a new journey for herself and her child, who also happened to be a a little girl who was due only a week after Helena was.

"You'll do great," Selina said, and she meant it. "It's scary now just because it's new, but once you've settled in and started working, you'll wish you had done this a long time ago."

Anita nodded, glancing down at the suitcase. "I hope so."

"And you know to call me if you need anything," Selina said. "And I do mean anything. Even if you need me to come kick someone's ass again."

Anita laughed. "I will."

"Are you going to stick around for my first class today?" Selina asked, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Your self defense class?"

Selina nodded. "It starts in half an hour. Gonna show the ladies how to kick some ass."

Anita paused. "Well... I don't know, especially with this big belly in the way..."

"You're staying," Selina said firmly. "There's a lot you can learn just by listening."

Anita smiled. "Okay."

Selina gave the younger girl a pat on her shoulder before leaving the room. Some of the other workers, Brenda the director especially, had warned Selina against becoming emotionally attached to the women they helped, saying it would only make it harder for her to deal with the realities of the job, but Selina found this situation to be different. She'd been the one to find Anita and bring her back here, and it only felt right for her to make sure the girl made it.

Her first class with the women had gone off without a hitch for the first half hour - she covered very basic tenants of self-defense, handed out free bottles of pepper spray, and was in the process of demonstrating several defensive maneuvers with another volunteer when Brenda came hurrying into the room and rushed to Selina's side.

"Sorry to interrupt you, honey," Brenda whispered, her short salt and pepper hair frazzled even more than usual today, "but Whitestone is here - Douglas Whitestone. The boss."

"The boss" was not actually their boss at all, but the very rich businessman who owned the only major hospital on the island and had cut the shelter's main funding in half since monopolizing the city's entire healthcare infrastructure. His family was the wealthiest on the island and also one of, if not the, most powerful one there.

"Oh," Selina replied, noting the slight panic in the director's face.

"He's here to 'check up on things', see how we're using his money. Probably looking for another excuse to slash it again."

"What can I do?"

"Just carry on with your class," Brenda said. "I just wanted you to be aware of what was going on. He'll probably drop in and watch for a minute. And to warn you, he's a huge dick, so just be prepared."

Selina smirked. "Don't worry about that. Go on."

Brenda nodded, then rushed out of the room. Selina turned back to the class and picked up where she'd left off, unconcerned and honestly hoping for a run-in with Whitestone. She had a way with wealthy pricks like him.

Another five minutes went by before he made an appearance in the doorway, Brenda behind him as he stood there with his hands clasped behind his back and an amused expression on his face as he watched Selina show the class how to throw off an attacker who was choking you from behind. As soon as she saw him, she straightened and painted a bright smile on her face. "Mr. Whitestone - so good to see you. Don't be shy - come say hi to the class."

He had a head full of white hair and wore his ridiculously expensive suit well, like only a disgustingly rich old man could, and he smiled good-naturedly and walked up to the front of the room where Selina stood. Brenda watched nervously from the doorway, but Selina smiled brightly as the man approached.

He extended his hand. "Good to meet you, Miss -?"

"Kyle," she smiled, shaking his hand. "Selina Kyle."

He nodded. "Lovely. Good class you've got going here."

"Thanks. It's my first one."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, congratulations, then."

"Thank you, sir," she said politely. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can," he smiled, glancing around the room.

She smiled widely again before her polite tone took a slight edge. "Were you aware that your cuts in funding has caused us to turn away over twenty mothers this month?"

His smile never faltered. "There are plenty of resources on this island, Miss Kyle, and part of making sure those resources stay available to the women and children who need it is making sure that the businesses I run stay successful. That requires tough decisions at times."

"You know as well as I do what a load of crap that is, Mr. Whitestone," Selina smiled in response.

A flicker of annoyance crossed Douglas' face, but he didn't lose a trace of his cockiness. "Look, Miss Kyle, I'd be happy to address your concerns privately, but -"

"Why not in front of the women your 'tough decisions' affect the most?" Selina challenged. Brenda looked as if she might faint. "Not a coward, are we?"

He glared at Selina briefly. "Certainly not. However, I am a busy man and I need to have a talk with your director before I leave. So good day, Miss Kyle."

Selina didn't reply, and after the old man and a very nervous looking Brenda left the room, Selina's eyes met those of Anita, who was sitting at the front of the class, and they shared a grin. "All right. Where were we?"

* * *

"As much as I appreciate what you were trying to do, Selina, please don't do it again," Brenda sighed, slumping behind her desk and resting her forehead on her hand as she closed her eyes. "If he decided to completely cut us off, we'd shut down in a day."

Selina crossed her arms, feeling Helena kicking animatedly underneath her thin black sweater. "Someone's got to stand up to him. Men like him don't intimidate me."

Brenda looked up in exasperation. "It's not about intimidation, Selina."

"Yes it is - does he not intimidate you? Isn't that his whole point? Power tripping at the expense of battered women and children?"

"Antagonizing him will only make him want to cut us off even more."

"I was stating facts, not antagonizing him," Selina replied. "I mean, be honest - has kissing his ass worked at all for you yet?"

Brenda sighed. "No."

"So then maybe he needs a little bit of a challenge," Selina said. "Honestly, if I'm believing everything you've been telling me these last few weeks, we'll be closed in a year anyway."

At that, Brenda made a frustrated grunt of a noise and leaned back in her chair, covering her face in her hands and closing her eyes. "I know."

Selina watched for a moment, then asked, "How much does the shelter need? Right now, to get caught up?"

Brenda gave a humorless laugh and muttered, "A lot. Around half a million, maybe more. We're behind on rent, behind on everything, and there's about a hundred things around here that have needed repair for a long time now."

"Well... I might be able to work something out with a... private donor. I'll let you know tomorrow."

Brenda nodded and took a moment, contemplating Selina, before speaking again. "You're the best thing to happen to this place in a long time, Selina. I'm serious. You remind me of myself before I took this job and let it drain the life out of me."

Selina wasn't sure what to say to that, so she stayed silent.

"Gina's leaving next month. Would you be interested in taking over for her?"

It was a considerable promotion - Gina was Brenda's second in command, as it were, and worked hard to keep the shelter running. "Absolutely."

Brenda nodded, releasing a deep breath and leaning back in her chair again. "Good. Just don't give me any more heart attacks in the future.

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, save for seeing Anita off on her new independent journey away from the shelter, and when Selina got home to Cat's Cay, her feet were killing her and she was absolutely starving. She made a beeline for the kitchen and grabbed the first thing she saw, a banana, and then headed back the way she came and then down the hallway to find Bruce.

She eventually found him in their bedroom, siting on the edge of their bed with his bad leg propped up in front of him, and she saw that he had an icepack on his head for the briefest of moments before he yanked it away and hid it behind his back as he realized that she was there.

"You're home," he smiled, trying to act nonchalant, but her eyes were narrowed as she entered the room, barefoot and carrying the banana in her hand. It was a slightly comical look for her.

"What's that behind your back?" she asked pointedly, quickly walking up to him and reaching for it. He jerked back to keep her at bay.

"Nothing."

"Why did you have an icepack on your head, Bruce?"

He paused for a moment before rolling his eyes slightly and tossing the icepack on the bed in resignation. "There was an issue with the vents in one of the spare bedrooms. I tried to fix it myself and some of the ceiling sort of... caved in."

She blinked. "On your head?"

"Yeah, but -"

"On your head that's so badly damaged that Leslie put you in a coma for three days only a matter of months ago?" she said, her tone hardening along with her eyes. "Don't you remember the headaches you used to to have?"

"Of course I do, Selina."

"Then what the hell are you thinking? Why not just call one of the stupid guys whose job it is to fix crap? Are you that bored with our life here, Bruce?"

His eyes flashed a little at that. "I'm not bored with our life. I love our life."

"I needed something else to do," she said, "and I found the shelter. We aren't the kinds of people who can sit around on an island all day and not eventually go crazy. You need a project, Bruce. Or a job. Something."

"I know," he muttered, looking down at the floor. He took a moment before he spoke again. "When you're gone and I'm here alone I just... I try to make myself stay busy. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise you think too much?" she guessed. His slight nod was her answer.

Silence hung in the air, and Selina wished she knew what to say to him. The truth was, only Bruce could know what would bring him fulfillment again.

Eventually he reached out and took her hand in his, then brought her down to his lap. She tossed the banana in her other hand down next to his icepack and wrapped her arms around his neck as he embraced her.

"How was your day?" he asked softly when she drew back. He placed his hand on her belly and rubbed it gently.

"Well, I taught my first self defense class and managed to piss off our main source of funding," she replied. "So I'd say it was good day."

Bruce grinned at that. "Rocking the boat already?"

She shrugged and reached behind him and grabbed her banana back. She peeled it as she replied, "Somebody has to. His name's Douglas Whitestone. Total prick. Even a bigger prick than Bruce Wayne."

"That's impressive."

She took a bite of the fruit, oblivious at the moment to how Bruce's eyes became fixed on her mouth. "He's everything I hate about rich people. Arrogant, selfish, a coward. The last person who should be running the healthcare system of an entire city and making decisions that affect the most vulnerable people in it."

"That's the way it usually works," Bruce said, watching as she gracefully continued eating the banana. He was reminded of their morning together and what she still owed him, then forced the thoughts away before his blood supply could start pooling somewhere other than his head.

"Yeah, well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you for a favor."

"What's that?"

She swallowed a chunk and then answered. "The shelter needs about half a million dollars to get out of debt and get back on track. It's not going to come in from Whitestone and nowhere else is stepping up. They're doing fundraisers but those only go so far."

"Who do I make the check out to?"

She paused, chewing, and took a moment to appreciate the seriousness in his face. The way he hadn't hesitated, the way he took everything she said seriously and treated her as his equal. It was little things like this that reminded her why this man had been the one to make her fall in love for the first time in her life. "Just to the shelter."

"I'll send the check with you tomorrow, then."

She swallowed the last bit of banana and then tossed the peel aside, not caring where it landed as she wrapped her arms around his neck once more and kissed him. He tasted the fruit on her lips and tongue as he held her close and kissed her back, his hands creeping down her sides and landing on her hips as her fingers untied his hair and then twisted in it, inevitably leaving knots in their wake.

She pulled away long enough to catch her breath and murmur, "Do you have any idea how sexy you are to me right now?"

"Maybe you should show me," he suggested, eyes dark as they looked down at her lips and then up to her eyes.

"Tell me how you'd like me to," she purred, tracing his lips with the tip of a finger. "I'm all yours."

His lips quirked at the corners as he contemplated her, his eyes falling from her own down to her chest and over her belly, down to her bare legs draped over his, and he said quietly, "After this morning... I've spent all day thinking about you going down on me, but now," he ran his hand up her skirt, between her legs, "I just want to make love to you."

She smirked as he pushed up her skirt with his fingers. "Sucker."

"Yeah," he agreed before capturing her lips with his.

He had her top off in a flash and her panties came next, while he left her skirt bunched up around her waist, and she only got as far as unbuttoning his shirt before he put her on her back and started assaulting her neck with his lips and tongue. He yanked down her bra straps as he trailed kisses over her throat and down her chest, leaving the bra on but pulling it down far enough on her torso to let her spill over. Then his mouth started working on her breasts, working her up into a writhing mess on the verge of climax from that contact alone, before he drew back and then moved her so that she was on her hands and knees in front of him.

"You call this 'making love'?" she asked with a smirk, looking behind her to him as he hastily undid his jeans.

He returned her grin and then leaned forward, his chest to her back as his lips grazed her ear. "Nah... I call it payback."

Then he thrusted inside of her, holding her hips in place with his hands and letting out a deep sigh as she tried not to gasp. His teeth found her earlobe and he nibbled gently before biting down and pulling, and she rocked back against him twice. The first time it caused his breath to evaporate in his lungs, and the second time he matched her and their rhythm was set.

Selina's fingers gripped the white sheets underneath her hard as he sped up, at one point adjusting their position so that his lips left her as he leaned back, angling himself to hit the most sensitive spot within her, and her following moan told him that it had been a good change.

Still, he wanted her closer, not satisfied unless as much of her skin was against his as possible. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her up by it, bringing her back to his chest again and turning her face to the side so that he could kiss her roughly on the lips. He bit down on her bottom lip when she tried to pull away and she had to admit, she loved the biting and the relative roughness - he was still careful and mindful of her bump, of course, but in her mind, they'd been due for some roughness in recent weeks.

She held on to his wavy dark hair with one hand while her other covered his own hand as it cupped a breast and his thumb flicked at and rolled her nipple. Another jolt of pleasure ran through her and she felt herself getting closer. Then his lips were at her ear again and noises were coming out of his open mouth, throaty, deep, pleasureful groans that were some of the sexiest things she'd ever heard. Then, without warning, he bent her over again and started slamming into her harder, one of his hands moving down between her legs and causing her to drop her forehead down to the bed as she moaned again.

His fingers moved in rapid circles as he felt himself nearing his end, willing himself to last long enough for her to go first, and sure enough, in less than two more minutes she was shaking and crying out into the sheets as she clenched down around him. The tighter-than-tightness made him lose it, and he pounded into her as he came, his open mouth on the back of her neck and hands still in delicate places as he found his release.

He stayed slumped over her for a moment, panting and satisfied, at peace once more as he kissed her in the middle of her upper back and then gently rolled over to his side, taking her with him.

They were slick with sweat and still had some of their clothes on, Bruce's shirt still open and hanging from his shoulders and jeans around his ankles while Selina was sporting a yanked-down bra and a pulled up skirt. He pulled her against him, her back to his chest, and nuzzled her neck as she laughed softly, still breathing quite heavily.

"I love how you can do that and then hold me all tenderly afterwards."

He smiled as his fingers reached between them and he unhooked her bra, sliding it from her arms and then flinging it away. Then he pulled up the sheet and wrapped it around them, kicking off his jeans in the process and holding her close as she settled into his arms. It was only five o'clock in the evening, but as her pregnancy progressed so did her napping habits, and he had no doubt that she'd probably sleep for the next hour. That was okay with him. He was happy to hold her and watch as she slept.

"I'm all about contradictions."

Her eyes were closed but she wasn't quite asleep yet as she cracked a smile. "Maybe not as much as you'd think."

Then her breathing evened, and he felt her body relax fully against him as she drifted to sleep.

He lay there with her, his mind in a far better place than it had been in all day, and as he thought over his new life and all of the ways that he both loved and feared it, he let his hand fall on Selina's belly. He left it there and closed his eyes, not planning to fall asleep himself but just take a moment to relax.

He almost jumped, then, when he felt a hard nudge against the palm of his hand a moment later. He narrowed his eyes but didn't move his hand, keeping it over her belly and waiting until a moment later, when he felt another nudge.

He smiled and let his head fall back down on his pillow, wishing Selina were awake to witness his first time being able to feel Helena kicking through her belly, but that was alright. She kept kicking and he kept smiling, and a few more months to wait for her to arrive suddenly seemed like way too long.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: sorry for the late update! Life is insane as always, but I finally got some writing time :D thank you all for your support and reviews, I love you all! Big thanks to midnightwings96 as always, you are amazing! (She really is!) anyway, hope you guys enjoy! :D **

Bruce stood in front of a large, empty building in the heart of Nassau, Alfred at his side as both men appraised the building. Bruce's hands were in the pocket of his jeans and the wind was blowing his hair into his face and ruffling his simple black t-shirt, causing him to appear every bit the lazy island-dweller and not at all the very rich man who'd just bought the building in question**. **

"Well... what do you think?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "I think that you have a lot of work ahead of you, sir. But I also think that it's a very noble work, and the sort of thing that you should have done a long time ago. A much healthier outlet for your passions than others."

Bruce nodded. A month ago, he'd written his first check to the Nassau women's shelter for enough money to keep them running comfortably for the next year. That had caused quite the stir on the island, with word spreading about a new, mysterious multi-millionaire in town, and Douglas Whitestone had even taken notice.

Some of the more busybodied citizens had begun speculating about Bruce being Whitestone's new "competition", which Bruce thought was ludicrous until he started looking further into the man's business dealings. The truth was, Whitestone was indeed everything about wealthy men that Bruce despised, and due to his greed, uninsured, sick citizens we're being turned away from the island's only hospital Whitestone had left in business, and Bruce began feeling that nagging hatred of injustice creeping into his mind again. He was able to keep it at bay, however, until Selina told him the story of a woman with a six year old son with brain cancer who'd come to the shelter to escape her abusive boyfriend. The boy was stage one and very treatable, but she was uninsured and couldn't afford his treatment. Whitestone's hospital had a program in place for the severely sick and uninsured to receive discounted treatment, but the boy wouldn't qualify until his cancer reached stage three, when his chances of recovery were much lower.

Several conversations with Selina later, and Bruce's mind was made up. He would buy the empty old hospital that sat only a few blocks from Whitestone's in downtown Nassau, renovate it, build more to it, and work to make it the foremost hospital in all of the Bahamas for both insured and uninsured patients.

His knowledge of science and medicine was decent, but his burning obsession with justice and helping those who needed it most was what he knew would make the hospital a success.

"You may be interested to know," Alfred said, breaking the momentary silence, "that your friend Mr. Fox recently began taking Wayne Enterprises in a bit of a new direction. Investing in cutting edge medical technology. The sort of things we've only seen in movies until now."

Bruce smirked. "Fancy that."

"Shall I give him a call?"

"I'll call him sometime today," Bruce said. "I was hoping you could do something else for me."

"And what's that, sir?"

"Helping me convince Leslie to be my chief of medicine."

Alfred paused for a moment before smiling slightly. "I doubt that will take much convincing."

Bruce shrugged. "I know how important her clinic is to her. And this would have to take most of her attention."

"Very true, but I think she'll jump at this opportunity, sir."

Bruce nodded and kept his eyes on the empty hospital, eight floors that he planned to add at least four new floors to, the start of a new journey that he honestly couldn't wait to begin. Alfred was right - this was what normal people did, the sort of thing that perhaps he should have done long ago, a healthy, non-life threatening way to help people and right wrongs. Not that he'd take back the other methods he'd employed in the past, but now that he was living a "normal" life - as normal as one he could live - this felt right.

"I take it Miss Kyle is on board with this."

Bruce smiled. "Very much so. I was driving her crazy before because I was bored and the things I did to keep myself busy weren't the... smartest or safest."

"Ah," Alfred said, "well, I'd say it's time somebody else felt a bit of my pain."

Bruce grinned. "Yeah."

"Is she working today?"

"No, she's at home getting ready for the baby shower," Bruce said with a chuckle. "She's been dreading it for days."

Alfred gave a light chuckle. "That's right, I forgot the shower was today."

"Yeah. Also, Blake's flying in in about an hour so we should start heading back."

Alfred nodded. "A busy day you're having, sir."

"The first of many."

* * *

Selina sat at her dining room table, sipping a glass of orange juice - her third one of the day, being one of her latest cravings - and glancing unenthusiastically between Leslie and Anita, who were seated with her and looking at her with amusement.

"Molly's living room is probably going to look like a group of Barbies and baby dolls threw up all over it."

"There's going to be a lot of pink," Leslie confirmed. "I saw the decorations."

Selina groaned. "She invited all the old ladies too, didn't she?"

Leslie nodded again. Selina groaned once more. Letting her exuberant, extremely girly neighbor plan her baby shower had been one of those unavoidable things that Selina probably couldn't have stopped if she'd tried. Molly tended to get her way, much like Selina, and it was getting annoying.

"I think it'll be fun," Anita piped up. Selina turned a weary eye on her.

"I'll be fine as long as there's food. A lot of food."

Now nearing her third trimester, Selina was hungrier than she'd ever been in her life, and she was never full. She'd only gained about twenty pounds so far, however, because she kept up with exercising and Bruce was obnoxious in his attempts to make her eat healthy foods (not for weight-curbing purposes, but for Helena's sake). The promise of Molly and Christian's surprisingly amazing home-baked goodies were one of the few things she was looking forward to about the shower.

It wasn't that she didn't want to celebrate Helena or experience a baby shower. She just wasn't social like Molly, and these days she was happiest staying in bed all day with Bruce, satisfying a different sort of hunger that was also at its highest point than ever before in her life.

As if on cue, she heard the front door open and Bruce walked inside. She felt tingling in her stomach at the sight of him, his casual look completely delicious to her eyes, and as their eyes met through the doorway between the hallway and kitchen, she planned fully to make her excuses and take him upstairs for awhile but then Alfred came into view behind him. Then she knew her plans were completely foiled when John Blake came trudging in behind them and closed the door behind him.

Blake glanced at Selina and she was taken aback for a moment at how utterly terrible the former detective looked. He wasn't as thin as he used to be and his hair was longer, but that was where the improvements ended - the bags under his eyes indicated that he hadn't slept in days, and where she was used to seeing a defiant spark in his brown eyes, even from across the room she could see that those eyes were flat and dead now. There were cuts across his cheek and a fading bruise on his jaw, but those were to be expected when one spent their nights fighting Gotham's criminals. His eyes were the jarring thing.

She got to her feet and gave Bruce a quick kiss after approaching them, then turned her eyes to Blake. "Hey, John."

He nodded. "Hey."

He sounded as bad as he looked. "What's wrong with you? You look like hell."

"Thanks, I needed someone else to tell me that," he muttered, shooting Bruce a sideways glare.

"Being a masked vigilante not living up to your expectations?" she ventured.

"Raven dumped me, okay?" he suddenly snapped.

Selina immediately shut up. She saw tears start swimming in Blake's suddenly averted eyes and she instantly felt like crap for needling him the way that she had. That's the way she'd always been with him, but her timing clearly sucked this time. Normally she would have shrugged it off, but now she felt guilt reddening her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

All at once, Bruce, Blake, and even Alfred looked up and stared at her, looks of surprise and even mild shock on their faces. She blinked, scanning their faces. "What?"

"You don't apologize," Blake said. "Ever."

Now she was equal parts annoyed and guilty. "Well right now I am. So get over it."

Bruce chuckled. Even Blake cracked a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.

Then the doorbell rang only a few feet away. Selina closed her eyes slowly and muttered, "What time is it?"

Bruce grinned. "Time to drown in a sea of pink ruffles."

Selina groaned and opened the door to find a hugely smiling Molly on the other side. "It's time!" she squeaked as Selina took in the younger girl's attire - she was wearing a pale pink sundress and an equally pale pink headband in her straight blonde hair, and even her lips were the same shade of pink.

Selina was defiantly dressed in all black, and she was suddenly rather happy about that. Before she could say anything, Molly reached out and snatched her hand, squealing "Let's go!", and Selina looked behind her and gave Bruce a tortured look as she was literally dragged to her own baby shower.

* * *

"Are you going to breastfeed?"

"Of course she shouldn't breastfeed - look at those knockers! It'll ruin them!"

"Oh, please, Betty, that's a myth! Pregnancy ruins them, not nursing. They're already ruined."

Selina's eyes widened as she sat in the middle seat of Molly's black leather couch, underneath pretty pink streamers exclaiming "Its a girl!", fielding the questions of the island's resident old ladies and trying not to let her jaw drop at some of the more alarming things they were saying.

"Now let me tell you one thing, dear," one of them named Doris said, smelling like vanilla sugar and looking like the ideal grandmother with her white hair and kind blue eyes, leaning in closer to Selina and lowering her voice, "there's a lot about childbirth that nobody talks about. Things that nobody ever warns you about."

Selina swallowed, afraid to hear what she was about to say.

"For example - if you deliver naturally, you will poop at some point during labor."

Selina's jaw dropped as Betty and Norma suddenly started half-shouting.

"No you will not!" Norma rolled her eyes, a French accent coloring her voice. She was the most glamorous of the three, slender and artificially black-haired, made up and dressed in designer French clothing.

"For heaven's sake, Doris!" Betty exclaimed. Betty was dark-skinned and wore a colorful scarf over her thin gray hair as well as bright red acrylic nails on her fingers. "Are you trying to scare the wits out of her? Most women do not poop during labor! Just because you did -"

"I'm just warning her that she could!" Doris said defensively. "Also, you'll probably tear. I tore both ways when I had my son - his head was so big, I needed so many stitches..."

"Doris!" Norma and Betty admonished in unison while Selina merely gaped, her already big brown eyes now the size of sand dollars.

"And afterwards, you bleed for an entire month. There! I'm done! Somebody needed to tell the poor girl!"

"'The poor girl' is now terrified! Look at her, she's as pale as a ghost!" Norma said, gesturing to Selina.

"I..." Selina found herself speechless.

Betty rolled her eyes. "Look, Selina, I pushed out four babies in my day, and I never tore or pooped. You do bleed for a month, but that's easy to deal with. Every labor and childbirth is different."

Selina nodded, but she was now completely dreading labor even more than she had been before.

Molly's voice suddenly came wafting through the room. "All right, come on everyone! Time to get started! Lots of presents to open!"

Selina looked up and saw a trail of people entering the living room behind Molly - Bruce, Alfred, Leslie, Anita, Christian, and a still-miserable looking Blake. They joined Selina and the three old ladies in the living room, and Molly left briefly to bring in a pink cloth-draped table that was full of wrapped gifts.

"All right, let's get started - presents first, then cake and games!"

_Oh joy_, Selina grumbled, taking comfort that now at least with Blake's addition, she wasn't the most uncomfortable looking person in the room.

* * *

Somewhere along the way of presents being opened and set aside, Blake's place on the couch opposite Selina had ended up being half-taken over by a diaper cake and other various baby items, including a ruffled newborn-sized pink dress and even a maternity lingerie set that had been a gift from Molly, and by the time the gift-opening came to an end, he was all but buried under a big pile of pink. He jumped at the chance to get away when Bruce gestured for him to follow himself and Christian out of the living room, and Selina shook her head slightly with a small smile. She knew how much it took out of a man to suffer through these sorts of things.

A moment later Molly bounded back into the room bearing two slices of a triple chocolate cake she'd baked, and after handing Selina hers she sat next to her and smiled brightly.

"I hope you're having fun," Molly said sweetly. "I know this isn't your kind of thing, but every pregnant girl needs a baby shower, whether she wants one or not."

Selina smiled at that. "No, I am. Thank you for all of this."

"You're welcome," Molly smiled. "Try the cake. It's amazing. And I'm not just bragging, it really is."

Selina did as she was told, and the cake was indeed truly amazing. "Oh my God. Holy _crap_."

Molly grinned. "Told you."

While she enjoyed the intense onslaught of chocolate assaulting her senses, Selina looked up and across the room and let her eyes fall upon the sight of Bruce, Blake and Christian standing together, talking amongst themselves and drinking out of pink plastic party cups, and Molly sighed next to her.

Molly leaned in closer to Selina's ear and lowered her voice slightly as she said, "God, look at the three of them. Can you imagine if they all just, like, started making out right now?"

Selina nearly choked on the piece of cake that she was chewing and burst out laughing. The sound of her laughter caught Bruce's attention, and he looked across the room at the two girls laughing with each other and smiled a little to himself at the uncharacteristic, for Selina, sight.

"I'm serious!" Molly said, catching her breath. "I mean, look at them - you've got Chris with his blonde hair and green eyes, and of course I'm in love with him so that makes him extra sexy to me. Then you've got Bruce who's got the tall dark and handsome thing down, and that hair... yeah. And I don't know where you've been hiding this Blake guy, but oh my God - I mean, do you just refuse to associate with anyone who isn't totally gorgeous?"

Selina laughed but crinkled her nose a little bit at the thought of Blake being "totally gorgeous", though she had to admit, his longer hair and more built physique did do him favors. "Now that you mention it, no, I guess I don't."

Meanwhile, the old ladies were fawning over Anita and her own baby bump, making plans to throw her her own baby shower soon, and when Molly got up to tend to something beeping frantically in the kitchen, Bruce pulled himself away from the guys and sat down next her, where Molly had been previously.

Selina set her plate aside and grinned at Bruce, leaning into him as he put an arm around her shoulders and placed his other hand on her belly. "Well, hey you."

He smiled and rubbed her belly gently. "Hey. Having fun?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

"Good. You look beautiful, by the way."

He kissed her on the cheek, and it was chaste but it still managed to set Selina off. She ran her lips up his jaw to his ear and purred, "I think I'm ready to leave now."

He chuckled softly and whispered back, "Was twice this morning not enough for you?"

She shook her head, drawing back enough to look into his eyes and give him a heated look that he had seen a lot of lately. "I can't help it. And Molly put thoughts in my head and now I'm really all hot and bothered..."

"Thoughts? What kind of thoughts?"

"You don't want to know," Selina replied with a grin. "And neither does Chris or Blake."

Bruce stared at her for a moment, puzzled, before his brain suddenly clicked and he understood. "Oh. That's... interesting. And kind of horrifying."

Selina laughed. "Don't worry. I'm too selfish to share you with anyone."

Bruce responded with a grin and began leaning down to bring his lips to hers, but he was foiled by Molly's admonishing voice just as their lips touched. "Break it up! Plenty of time for that later! Right now it's time for games."

Selina sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're playing these with me."

"What do I get out of it?"

She thought for a moment and then brought her lips to his ear, whispering some filthy words to him as Molly stood in front of them with her hands on her hips. "Seriously, guys!"

When Selina pulled away, Bruce looked half-dazed and met her gaze with darkened hazel eyes. He cleared his throat and replied, "I'm in."

* * *

When the old ladies had gone home and Anita had headed back to Nassau as well, Bruce had disappeared out back on the deck with Blake and Selina had insisted on helping Molly and Christian clean up the mess left behind by the shower. Alfred and Leslie had gone back to their house as well, and Selina couldn't help but observe the sweet dynamic of her neighbor's relationship as she tidied up alongside them. Their love for each other was obvious, and Chris treated Molly the way Bruce treated Selina. It was a rare thing to see.

When Christian left to take out a couple bags of trash, Selina took the opportunity to do something out of character for her usual self and asked Molly a question. "How did you guys meet?"

Molly took a break from picking up dishes that had been left around the living room and paused before answering. She balanced three plates in one hand and started heading for the kitchen as Selina followed. "Oh, it's a long story. Not a very glamorous one either."

Selina shrugged. "Sorry. I was just curious."

"Oh it's fine," Molly replied, depositing the dishes into the sink and turning on the water. "I just haven't told many people. We have a polite story that we tell his colleagues and people like that, and then there's the real story."

"I can relate to that," Selina said, deciding to be helpful by unloading the dishwasher of the clean dishes and making room for the dirty ones.

"Without going into too much gory detail," Molly sighed, "I come from a rich family in Los Angeles. A very uptight and controlling one. My parents had my whole life planned out for me before I was even born. They picked out who I'd marry when I was six. Of course by the time I was 14 I realized that I didn't want any of it and I started rebelling. That didn't go over well. Long story short, I ran away when I was sixteen. But I was a spoiled little rich girl and had no idea what I was getting into... but I was too stubborn to go back, so I tried to make my own way. I ended up dancing at a strip club in north Hollywood."

Selina could tell the story was hard for her to recount, but Molly pressed on as she rinsed off the dishes. "I got so messed up and off track. I did drugs when I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. It was a really bad time and I don't like even thinking about it... but before I totally lost it, I met Christian."

A small smile played on her lips as she thought back to the day she'd met her fiancé. "The club I worked at had a lot of businessmen clientele, and sometimes they'd have their little meetings in our VIP rooms. One day a group of about six young business guys came in and got a room, and I was one of the lucky ones that got to go give them lapdances while they went over the fine print of some new contract or something. Really humiliating but that's how I made a lot of my money. Anyway, I go to the room and the guy that wanted me was already drunk and was horrible from the get-go - trying to touch me and getting angry when I wouldn't let him. He was the only one getting a dance and the other guys pretty much ignored him, except for Chris, who kept telling him to keep his hands to himself and would look at me when he didn't think I noticed. It wasn't the kind of look I usually got, though, and it wasn't sympathy, either. It was different. I didn't know what to make of it."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, when the dance was over, I tried to leave but the guy was persistent, to say the least. He wanted a 'favor' first. He actually followed me out of the room and grabbed me in the hallway and threw me up against a wall and tried yanking off what little clothes I had on. I tried to scream but he had his hand over my mouth... then Christian came up behind him and punched him in the head and knocked him out."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."

Molly grinned. "Oh yeah. Sexy as hell, too. After that he started pursuing me, but I was a pessimistic jerk. I wanted him from the second I laid eyes on him but I still gave him hell. I didn't know how to trust anyone, let alone a man. But he wore me down. Took me in and got me away from the club and the drugs. Best thing that ever happened to me."

Selina was shocked. She never would have guessed that this blonde, bubbly, unfiltered girl had the type of past that she did.

"I know that I get on your nerves, and I get on a lot of people's nerves," Molly said, suddenly very serious, turning to Selina. "I say too much and I'm always 'on', and I act too happy for some people to handle. But it's because I really am so happy and I've never really been happy until now, and I can't help but show it."

"Don't feel like you shouldn't show it," Selina replied quickly. "You've earned the right to do whatever the hell you want to, whatever makes you happy. And for the record, you don't annoy me as much as you used to."

Molly smiled and gave a small laugh. "Good, because I think we could be really awesome friends. How did you and Bruce meet?"

Selina paused for a moment, contemplating the "polite" version of the story and then the actual story. Maybe, however, there was something in between. "I didn't have the best life either. I spent almost all of my teenage and adult life stealing and surviving however I could. I stole a strand of pearls from Bruce's safe last year. I didn't know they had a tracker on them until he found me and took them back. A lot happened after that... I've hurt him in some really awful ways that I'd like to forget. But for some reason, he loves me."

Molly's widened eyes blinked. "You were a thief? Like, what kind? A bank robber or something?"

Selina chuckled. "No. Jewels were my forte."

"Jewel thief," Molly said, staring out into space for a moment. "That's kinda hot."

Selina grinned. She was impressed with how unfazed Molly was at discovering her neighbor's criminal past, but considering her own background, it wasn't surprising. "Kinda."

"And Bruce? What did he do before you guys came here?"

"Just different things," Selina said evasively. Bruce's story wasn't hers to tell, not even the polite version. "He was a trust fund kid."

"So was Chris," Molly said, "but his dad died last year and now he's got the company. Our wedding's going to be on Valentine's Day next year - will you and Bruce come?"

It was remarkable in some ways that Selina answered without hesitation. "Of course."

Molly beamed. "Great. It's going to be in Nassau, at the big Catholic church there - he's Catholic, I'm not, but the church is amazing so I don't care. Ooh! Do you want to see my dress?"

Before Selina could answer, Molly had grabbed her hand and was dragging her out of the kitchen, and Selina couldn't help but laugh. She had the feeling that now that she'd let Molly in a little bit, she'd never get rid of her, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Meanwhile, on Chris and Molly's deck, Bruce was staring out into the horizon as Blake tried to act like he wasn't fighting to keep some very unmanly tears from falling. Bruce figured the best thing he could do was pretend not to notice in case Blake got embarrassed, but he didn't think the younger man had any reason to be embarrassed. He had never been a stranger to tears himself.

"I don't know what to do. She broke up with me because she knew I was hiding something and I wouldn't tell her. I don't want to tell her, Bruce. I don't want to put her in danger. I just... I don't know what to do."

"I know Raven," Bruce said quietly, still not meeting the other man's eyes. "She's extremely intelligent. You can't get a lot past her. My guess is, she's got a hunch already. I'd tell her."

"I don't know if it'll make a difference at this point," Blake said, sniffing and rubbing at his eye with the back of his hand.

Bruce finally turned his head towards Blake, looking at him incredulously. "Isn't she worth finding out?"

"You don't understand," Blake said in slight exasperation. "She... I don't know what to do. She just... she's not like anybody I've ever known before. I can't think straight, I don't know how to act around her half the time, I just... I'll do anything to get her back but I'm an idiot and I know I'll screw up whatever I try to do."

"Just start with the truth. And let her decide if she can deal with you being Nightwing. Rachel knew her limits and I should have respected that. If Raven tells you the same thing, respect her and move on."

Blake sighed and ran a hand through his newly shaggy, wavy hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he muttered, "I feel like punching something."

"Finally ready to get started on the rest of your training?"

"Anything to get my mind off of this crap."

"Good luck with that."

Blake snorted. "Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I'd seen it coming. We were fine and then she just out of nowhere starts asking all these questions over breakfast one morning, and I didn't know how to answer. She thinks I was cheating or gambling or something..." he dropped his head into his hands. "I'm an idiot."

"Yeah," Bruce agreed. "Love tends to make us all stupider. I brought up getting married to Selina awhile ago and she didn't take it well. I'm still kicking myself for that one."

"What's the big deal? You're having a kid and living on a secluded island together," Blake pointed out. "Seems like the next logical step."

Bruce smiled slightly for a moment, mulling over Blake's words, before replying. "We aren't exactly a logical couple."

Blake couldn't argue with that. "True."

After a moment, Bruce stepped away and pulled out a hair tie from the pocket of his jeans and started gathering up his hair at the nape of his neck. "Let's go get your training started while Selina's still stuck in girl-land."

As Blake followed Bruce off the deck, he glanced up at the older man's ponytail and remarked, "Don't you think it's time for a haircut?"

Bruce glanced sideways at Blake and looked pointedly at Blake's own longer hair. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black."

"No, mine's just growing out. Yours is getting ridiculous."

"Selina likes it," Bruce said simply, as if that settled things entirely.

"She's getting huge, by the way," Blake said good-naturedly. "She looks happy. And maybe a little more mellow."

Bruce scoffed. "She's just been mellow today. It's different every day. Yesterday I got her orange juice with pulp instead of without pulp, and she chewed me out for a good fifteen minutes over it before she realized what she was doing and then started crying because she felt bad."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Sweet Jesus."

Bruce shrugged. "I'm getting used to it. And making up is the best part."

"I'll bet. She'd probably kill you for talking about it though."

Bruce grinned as he replied, "Like I said, making up is the best part."

* * *

Later that night, when Bruce's sparring with Blake was over and he'd gone to bed only to begin another very different sort of sparring with Selina, they laid next to one another and spoke softly as a cool breeze flowing in through their open door cooled off the sweat they'd worked up.

"Did you have fun today?" Bruce asked gently, pulling up new dark blue silk sheets over Selina's lower half but leaving her top half exposed to his sight.

"I did," she replied, playing with the ends of some of his hair that were tickling his neck. "Even sort of bonded with Molly. She's not the vacant airhead she appears to be."

"Wouldn't be the first time someone wasn't what they seemed."

His hand palmed up and down her side and hip as she paused before speaking again. "Did Leslie say yes?"

Bruce nodded. "Without hesitation."

Selina smiled. "I'm glad you've found something that you're passionate about, Bruce."

He tucked her hair behind her ear and murmured, "Thank you for standing by me. And for bringing me here. I don't know where I'd be without you."

Even after all of this time, she barely knew how to answer when he said things like this. But he saved her the stress of having to figure it out when his eyes fluttered closed and he drifted off to sleep a moment later.

She watched him for awhile, enjoying the look of peace on his handsome, scruffy face as he breathed evenly, but it wasn't long before she realized that she was wide awake and nowhere near being ready to fall asleep for the night.

Gently, she eased out of his arms without disturbing him, and after maneuvering her very pregnant self out of bed with growing difficulty, she slipped on a warm flannel robe and padded out into the hallway in search of the kitchen.

Her intention was to fix herself a cup of one of the various caffeine free herbal teas she'd taken a recent liking to and then head back to bed, but then she entered the kitchen and found Blake sitting wide-awake at the table, staring down at his phone seemingly hopelessly. He looked up at her wearily when he noticed her presence, and when she gave him a puzzled look, he muttered, "I'm still used to staying up all night. And the time zone change isn't helping."

"Ah," she said, walking past him to the stove and going about fixing her tea. "You'll get used to it. How long are you staying?"

He went back to staring at the blank screen of his phone as he answered. "I don't know. Bruce was saying he wanted a month to finish part of my training but I can't stay that long. I can probably only manage a week."

"What are you doing to pay the bills when you're not beating up scumbags?" Selina asked, dropping a tea bag into her mug after placing a tea kettle on the stove to warm up.

"Still tending bar," he muttered.

"Well," she said, turning and walking back to the table before taking a seat across from Blake while she waited for the water to boil, "I hope everything works out for you and Raven. I do mean that, too."

He nodded lightly, still not meeting her eyes. "Thanks."

"You're a lot like Bruce, you know," Selina said, and his eyes raised up at this. "And that's both a good and bad thing. Whatever advice he's given you, I'd take if I were you."

"... I just don't know how I can balance everything, even if she did take me back. Once she knows, it changes everything. It puts her in more danger."

"I wish I could help you," Selina said, "but I have no idea what to tell you. Everything I've ever done, I let it completely consume my life and before I know it, I'm in over my head. With Bruce, it worked out. With my little life of crime, not so much. I don't know how to balance anything. It's always one extreme or another with me. Same with Bruce. Maybe that's why we work."

"I feel like Nightwing has to always come first. Like the city has to come first no matter what. And she deserves better than that."

Selina thought for a moment before replying. "Maybe you should let her decide that for herself. I know Bruce will always have a life of his own and have his own obsessions that don't involve me. I know I won't always come first now that he's going to be building and running a hospital. And I'm okay with that. He lets me do what I want to do, and he does what he wants. We support each other and at the end of the day... it's just us. For now, anyway."

Blake's eyes flickered down to her belly for a moment before he spoke again. "Sounds like you guys have it all figured out."

She snorted. "Hardly. I still have no idea what I'm doing half the time. Hell, just a few months ago he brought up marriage and I acted like a complete idiot. I still kick myself over that."

Blake suppressed a laugh, noting the similar way that both Bruce and Selina had recounted that story and their dismal mutual handling of the situation. To Blake, it was clear that the only obstacle in their relationship was their own fear. He wondered if his own relationship deficits were as clear to them as theirs were to him. "If you guys have made it this far, I think it's safe to say that you'll be able to deal with whatever issues pop up in the future."

Selina shrugged and got up to retrieve the whistling tea kettle from the stove. "I hope so."

After she'd fixed her tea and sat back down, Blake gestured to her belly and asked, "So is this going to be the first of many little ones?"

She gave him a small glare as she sipped from her mug. "Do I look like a baby factory?"

"Right now? Yeah, actually."

She rolled her eyes. "And you look like a lovesick puppy who would rather be anywhere but here right now."

Blake frowned and looked back down at his phone. "I'm going to go crazy until I get back to Gotham and talk to her."

"Then go back. You've obviously been doing fine with the training you have. You've got the rest of your life to train. But us girls aren't always so accommodating."

"Bruce will be annoyed."

Selina looked at him incredulously. "So what? Tell you what - go try to get some sleep. I'll keep Bruce in bed late tomorrow morning. Get an early flight home. Get your girl."

Blake grinned. "Thanks."

Then they were silent for a moment, and after thinking it over, Selina said, "One word of advice. Theatricality can go a long way in a lot of situations, and this might be one of them. Showing up in your suit and mask and then dramatically revealing your identity to her might not be a bad idea. At the very least, I'm sure she'll think it's a huge turn on."

A faint blush crept up on his cheeks and he scratched behind his ear nervously. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind."

After another moment or two, Selina picked up her tea and got to her feet, her other hand resting on her belly over her robe. "Well, good luck, Boy Wonder."

He chuckled. "Thanks, Catwoman."

She rolled her eyes. "I feel more like Cowwoman right now, to be honest."

"But you've only got a few more months, right?"

She counted the weeks in her mind and then said, "Two and a half more months. Long months."

"You'll get there."

She smiled and then turned to leave the kitchen. "Hopefully without driving Bruce away in the process."

She heard him respond with a "Not likely" as she headed down the hallway back to her bedroom. When she reached the room she closed the door behind her and set the mug of tea down on a nightstand beside her bed, and slipped out of the robe before crawling back into bed.

As soon as her skin was against the sheets again, Bruce sleepily reached out and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her belly protectively and resting his head against the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes and melted against him, falling asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat pounding in time with hers and the soft kicking of tiny feet in her womb. She had to admit, it was the perfect way to end any, and every, day.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: so, something a little different today :) today we go back to Gotham for a bit and take a closer look at Blake and Raven, which I hope you guys don't mind. There is still BatCat in this chapter, of course, but I thought we could all use a dose of Nightwing and a closer look at my little OC. Let me know what you think! Next chapter is probably going to be gigantic and should be up soon! Oh and big thanks to midnightwings96, as always! :D thank you guys for your reviews and support! **

This used to be her favorite kind of night. A mild storm lighting up the night outside of her windows, a glass of imported red wine, soft music playing as she lounged on her expensive white sofa after a long day at work. A night alone and content inside of her expensive apartment, overlooking the city from its place high in the complex, watching as the city lights dimmed a little bit more with each hour of the night that passed**. **

The rain tapping against the wall of large windows that lined her living room used to soothe her. She used to love the rain, ever since she was a little girl. Now the sound grated on her nerves.

The wine she was sipping from her small, clear glass tasted bitter. The sofa underneath her felt lumpy. The song playing on her iPod dock was one she'd heard one too many times. The city outside was too bright and too loud. Even the moonlight was garish against the shadows. It was all wrong.

And it was all _his_ fault.

She'd been just fine until he'd come along, thank you very much. She was successful, accomplished, independent. Happy. Lonely, maybe, but everyone was a little lonely from time to time. The point was, she was fine being on her own. She was used to it, comfortable with it.

Then he'd showed up out of nowhere in her life, so hard to resist with his sweet brown eyes and quiet passion that ran through his veins and colored his cheeks when they'd get close. He pulled her in the way no man had in years, maybe ever, and she was in love from the moment his lips touched hers for the first time.

The thing was, however, that no matter how deeply she'd fallen for him, she'd never been good at living in denial. And even early on, she knew something wasn't right with him.

She didn't know if it was another woman, an addiction, gambling, or a top-secret spy gig straight from the CIA, but something was taking up big chunks of his life, and he wouldn't tell her what it was. No matter how many times she hinted and asked, he evaded her, or flat out refused to acknowledge anything about his odd behavior and frequent unexplained absences.

And she simply couldn't live like that. She refused to live like that.

And now here she was, back where she'd began, back to her own life, but it felt empty now. How was she supposed to go on like nothing had ever happened when she was still just as deeply in love with him as she'd ever been? How was life supposed to feel right again?

She set down her wine glass in front of her on a mahogany coffee table with a grimace and sighed, bringing her black ringlets behind her ears and closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to clear her head of the nagging little jerk that was John Blake, or as she called him, Robin. A few weeks into their relationship she'd caught a glimpse of his I.D. card and leaned his full legal name, and she never called him John once after that. From then on, he was her Robin, and it seemed to fit so well. Everything about them had been so right. And yet the entire time, something had been so wrong.

Her eyes still closed, she brought a hand to her left shoulder blade and started rubbing out a knot of tension that lurked under the surface of her skin, losing her will to keep her mind off of the man she loved any longer. She could fool everyone else but she really couldn't fool herself. She simply knew herself far too well to pretend that she didn't spend every waking moment craving his touch, his presence.

She grimaced again and collapsed against the back of the couch, slumping her shoulders and narrowing her dark brown eyes at nothing. She'd become one of _those_ women, she thought, the kind that pine over men who aren't worthy of them. She may as well be their poster girl now.

After a moment of sulking, she sat up straight and prepared to stand up and head to bed early, but a soft sound that seemed to come from her front door a hallway away caught her attention. She paused and listened, but when she didn't hear anything else, she shrugged slightly and got to her feet.

Gloved hands instantly clasped over her mouth and another pair of hands grabbed her and tossed her back down on the couch hard. Her blood ran cold and brief confusion quickly gave way to all-out panic and terror as she tried to scream but couldn't make a sound thanks to the hand covering her mouth. She looked up and saw a blur of black clothes and ski masks, and then one of the masks was in her face.

"Hello there, pretty lady," a sickeningly smug voice said through the ski mask. His breath smelled like beer and chewing tobacco. "Don't mind us. We're just picking up a few things, and then we'll be on our way. It'll go a lot faster if you tell us where your valuables are."

Even despite the overwhelming fear and the way she was shaking violently while beginning to hyperventilate, she knew the protocol for this sort of situation. Always give the robbers what they want, and don't look into their faces if you don't have to. Cooperate and don't talk back. Stay alive.

"M-my jewelry's in a box in my room," she said shakily. "I have some cash in a drawer and a couple of paintings, but I really don't have anything else that's -"

A smile and then a punch to the side of her skull, and for one slow, terrifying moment, Raven watched as everything around her dissolved, and her world went black.

* * *

He really hated the rain. And it was just his luck that the light storm was quickly morphing into a torrential downpour as he made his way uptown, sprinting across rooftops and trying to ignore the thumping of his nervous heart.

This was it, he thought - this was the night where he'd lay it all bare and come clean, finally tell the woman he loved the truth and pray that she'd take him back. He was terrified and excited and anxious and extremely tired, having flown all the way from the Bahamas to get here tonight and not sleeping a wink since the day prior. But adrenaline was keeping him going, and the tiredness was nothing compared to the rest of what he was feeling.

The city seemed quiet tonight, and he was grateful for that. He was on a mission and he didn't want to get sidetracked by any criminals. For once, he thought, fighting crime could wait. Tonight, she came first.

Anxiety bloomed into full on slight panic as her apartment came into view, but not because anything appeared to be wrong. The closer he got to her, the faster his mind started racing, imagining all sorts of different scenarios where he'd take his mask off and she would either slap him, scream at him, curse him, kiss him, or alternatively, do all of the above. He'd gone over the speech he had planned until he could recite it perfectly by heart, and yet now, as he swung on a grappling line towards her balcony, he couldn't remember a single word of it.

His feet hit the balcony floor and he straightened, looking into her large, clear windowed doors, and feeling his heart drop and adrenaline burst at what he saw happening inside. Blistering anger quickly followed, and with fists clenched at his sides, he prepared to strike.

* * *

She was conscious again, lying on the floor on her side and watching as the masked men ransacked her home of five years. Whatever wasn't valuable enough for them to steal, they broke, laughing as they did it. They broke and overturned her lamps, causing the living room to go dark save for the moonlight flowing through the windows. She pretended to still be knocked out for awhile, reminding herself that her life was more important than her things, but when they grabbed a photo of herself and her dead parents and smashed it for no reason other than the fact that they simply could, she felt something snap.

Being Lucius Fox's niece and having been raised by him since her girlhood, he'd made sure she knew how to fight. She'd fought off muggers and even one rapist in her day, and when one of the robbers walked by and came close enough for her to reach, she kicked out her leg and knocked him off his feet, sending him flying face first to the floor.

She quickly sprang up and grabbed the first thing she could find, which was the bottle of wine that was sitting on her coffee table, and smashed it over the head of one of the men that came rushing to grab her. He fell and she aimed a kick at another man, and it connected but he barely flinched. She threw a punch at him and ducked away from another man, but she quickly realized that she'd made a mistake. Five men in total converged upon her, and one of them grabbed her from behind by her hair and pressed a blade to her neck.

He pressed just hard enough with the blade to cause a bead of ruby red blood to appear on her chocolate skin. It dripped down and stained the collar of her white blouse as he hissed against her ear, "You don't listen well, do you? Or do you just like making things as painful for yourself as possible?"

"I say we teach her a lesson," one of the other men said, and she closed her eyes and tried not to cry. She knew what was coming next. His gleeful tone made it clear.

"I say we all teach her a lesson," said the man brandishing the knife.

"How about I teach all of you one instead?"

Raven's eyes popped open and every man in the room turned to look towards the windows, where the strange new voice seemed to have come from, but when they saw nothing, they all started whipping their heads around wildly looking through the darkness for the source of the voice. One man pulled out a pistol, and as soon as he'd cocked it, a sharp winged object flew through the air and knocked it clean out of his hand to the floor.

"Who's there?" the man with the knife called out, still gripping Raven tightly.

His eyes widened when the voice spoke directly into his ear. "Me."

Then Raven was free and she heard the cracking of bones behind her as she clutched her neck and scattered off away from the men who were now drawing all of their weapons and preparing for a fight. She tripped over one of the overturned lamps and then slid herself up against a wall, mindlessly holding her sleeve to stop the mild bleeding at her neck while she watched transfixed as the scene unfolded.

Nightwing looked terrifying, enormous, and magnificent as he engaged the seven men and dropped them all almost effortlessly. He was a flash of black and midnight blue, his hidden eyes appearing only as menacing white slits behind a jagged night vision mask. Wet, nearly black hair flew around his face as he fought, and though his presence brought her relief and comfort that was nearly impossible to put into words, Raven began going further and further into shock.

When the grunts of pain and sounds of bone cracking ceased, it left an extremely loud silence in its wake. Raven didn't realize she was staring blankly into nothing and crying until she felt gloved fingers at her neck, moving her sleeve away from it and touching her small wound incredibly gently. She focused her eyes and looked upon the face of the masked vigilante as he knelt in front of her, and it took her another moment to focus hard enough to understand the words he was saying to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked for the third or fourth time.

She opened her mouth, and it took a few seconds for sounds to come out of it. "I... no."

"Were you hurt anywhere besides your neck?"

"They... hit me in the head. I was knocked out for a few minutes."

She let her eyes wander off towards the heap of unconscious men on her living room floor, but his finger on her chin brought her attention back to him. "Listen to me. It's over. You're safe. Don't look at them."

His voice was familiar. Something about it was comforting, and though she couldn't put her finger on it, she allowed his words to thaw her enough so that she could feel herself edging away from the shock. Unfortunately, that meant a lot more crying.

It was tears of relief and lingering horror of having come so close to suffering only God knows what at those men's hands, and as she sobbed, he pulled her close and she cried on to his armored shoulder.

* * *

The only thing keeping him from ripping the robbers limb from limb was the sobbing girl in his arms. They deserved it. He knew they'd get out of prison after a few years at best for their crimes tonight. It wasn't fair.

But this girl he'd saved, this woman that he was desperately in love with and who had no idea who he was behind his mask, deserved better than to be the catalyst that caused him to betray his code and take another man's life. He controlled himself for her.

He wanted to run his hands through her curls, to whisper sweet, comforting things in her ear, but she didn't know who he was yet. He'd come here with the intent of telling her, but right now, with her this traumatized and shaken up, it wasn't the right time. So for now, he simply held her close and spoke generic words of comfort, much like he did for women that he rescued from their rapists during his nights patrolling Gotham. That was the best he could do for her for now.

After crying herself out, she sniffed and drew back, clutching his shoulders still and looking up into his masked eyes as she found her voice again. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

He wondered if she recognized his voice at all. He disguised it as Nightwing, speaking lower and smoother than he did as John Blake, but he knew that only went so far. She shook her head. "Yes I do."

"Can you stand?"

She paused briefly before nodding. He grasped her hands and stood, gently pulling her up with him. He could tell her knees were trembling and threatening to give out, so he didn't let go of her hands. "The police are on their way."

She nodded but then her face fell. "I have to give them a statement tonight, don't I."

"If you don't want to. I can hold them off you until morning."

At this, her eyes seemed to brighten with a new idea. "Can you take me somewhere?"

"Anywhere."

Their hands were still clasped as she spoke. "Old Town. 13 Manor street."

His heart thumped at her words. That was his address. "Old Town?"

She nodded. "There's somebody there that I... I need to be with."

He stared at her, and she stared back. Her expression became curious, her eyes trying to figure him out as tears dried on her cheeks, and he realized that despite his reservations, the moment of truth was here.

He let go of her hands but didn't take his eyes off of her. He sighed softly, then reached up to his mask and clicked off the nightvision. Then he grasped the mask between two fingers, and pulled it away from his face.

His soft brown eyes met her tearful, slightly darker brown ones, and the gasp that came from her throat was so soft that it was barely audible.

* * *

After the shock of tonight's events, this additional shock threatened to be the one that tipped her over. She understood now why his voice had been so familiar, and why crying in his arms hadn't felt strange or foreign at all but somehow right.

She understood everything - Blake's evasiveness, his white lies and why he could never tell her the truth until now. It was incredible and unreal, realizing that this hero she read about in the papers was the same man she'd fallen in love with earlier this year, but here was the truth, finally, and it all made sense.

For a long moment, all she could do was stare at him - his eyes, his soaked hair, his parted lips and slightly flushed cheeks that she should have recognized even with the mask.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, at last breaking the silence. "I was trying to protect you."

She still couldn't speak.

"I was coming here tonight to tell you and I saw... those men. This isn't how I wanted you to find out, but..."

His eyes were so earnest. She could tell that he was terrified of losing her for good, of watching her slip through his grasp with no return. "I'm sorry, Raven. I'm sorry."

When he opened his mouth to repeat his apology once more, she quickly took his face in her hands and silenced him with a kiss. This took him by surprise, and when she drew back and looked in his eyes, he looked bewildered.

"Don't be sorry."

He stared at her for one more moment before he seemed to accept his good fortune, and then he took her in his arms and kissed her the way that he'd been dreaming of doing every night since they'd said goodbye.

He pulled her close against his hard, armored body and she let her hands fall to his deep blue wing-emblazoned chest as he deepened their kiss, letting her feel all of his desperation and pain that he'd felt being apart from her. He didn't want to overwhelm her but he couldn't help it, and luckily, she returned the kiss just as fervently.

Her hands had moved up into his damp hair and her fingers were twisting into it when he finally couldn't take it anymore, and he lifted her up off the floor and into his arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he started walking them towards the balcony, and their kiss didn't end until they had stepped out into the cold night air.

The rain had finally stopped.

"My place?" he suggested gently.

She drew in a deep breath and replied, "Anywhere but here."

He shot out a grappling hook from one of his gauntlets and it wrapped securely around the base of the balcony, and just as he was about to slide down it with her, she blurted out, "My parents' picture! I don't want to leave it here."

It sounded silly to her own ears, but she really didn't want to leave it behind at the crime scene her apartment had become. To her surprise, he paused and held up a hand to her. In between his fingers was the picture in question. "I knew you wouldn't."

She smiled and took the photo in her own hand. "Thank you, Robin."

He returned her smile and grasped the grappling hook, and she braced herself as he prepared to take them down. "I told you, you don't have to thank me."

She then brought her hand to his cheek and pulled his face down for a kiss. It was soft and sweet but it lingered just long enough to make him start itching to get back to his place as soon as possible. "And I told you," she said, pulling away, "yes I do."

He didn't argue, simply giving her a crooked grin just before sending them plunging back down to the earth and on their way home.

* * *

The next day, back on Cat's Cay, Bruce walked the short distance from his and Selina's house to Molly and Christian's place just on the other side of a row of palm trees that separated the two homes. It was mid afternoon and Selina was working at the shelter, and Bruce was looking for someone to help him on something of a project that he'd recently thought up. His choices were few, as they always were, but he thought their bubbly neighbor was his best option.

It was almost cool enough today to require a jacket, Bruce thought as he stood outside Molly's front door and knocked lightly. Christian's jet was gone from the island's airstrip today so Bruce knew he wouldn't be home, and he was suddenly grateful for the lack of busybodied neighbors who might think something suspicious of his visit.

She answered the door after a short moment, dressed in lavender sweats and her light blonde hair thrown up in a messy knot. The smell of bleach assaulted Bruce's senses from the open door, as well as the sound of blaring late 1990's pop music. Apparently, she liked to power-clean her house to the catchy hooks of NSYNC hits.

"Oh, hi!" she chirped, clearly surprised to see Bruce and looking instantly self conscious.

"Hi," he replied, amused. "Are you busy?"

"No, not at all," she smiled, then she realized how obviously wrong that answer was. "Actually, I'm bleaching my kitchen. I'm kind of OCD about cleaning but it drives Chris crazy so I do the heavy duty stuff when he's working. He hates the smell of bleach too, so it works out, I guess. I'm rambling."

He smiled. "It's fine. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Yeah, I mean no, I don't mind, come in," she said, opening the door fully and stepping back. She quickly hurried into the kitchen and turned off the 90's pop tunes and scolded herself for being weird before turning and smiling brightly at Bruce. "Can I get you something to drink? I just made some iced tea this morning."

He nodded. "Sure, thanks."

"Okay! Have a seat and I'll grab it," she replied, and he sat down at the dark oak dining room table as she scurried off to the refrigerator.

A few minutes and two servings of tea later, Molly sat down and smiled. "So what brings you here?"

He sipped the tea, which was some of the best he'd had in a long time, and then answered, "I need your help with something."

"Okay," she replied, slight confusion evident on her face.

"First I need you to promise not to say anything to Selina. I know you have no filter so it might be difficult, but if you have to, I need you to lie."

Her eyes widened a little bit at this, and he wondered what sort of possibilities were running through her mind right now.

"Can you do that?" he asked.

"... I guess, but -"

"Good," he smiled. "You look a little freaked out right now."

"Well, you're freaking me out a little bit," she admitted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. Don't worry - this will be fun."

He seemed trustworthy enough, she supposed. "Okay. What do you need?"

* * *

Across the bay, on the sprawling island of Nassau, Selina was sitting slightly awkwardly with a five year old little girl in the lobby of the shelter while the girl's mother spoke with Brenda in her office. It wasn't an unusual thing to have to do, watch a child while their mother recounted terrible details of abuse behind closed doors, but this was the first time Selina had to play babysitter.

The little girl clutched a pink teddy bear and stared off while Selina sat next to her, holding her half-drank juice box, hoping the girl's mother would be back to retrieve her soon.

"Is my Daddy going to find us?" the little girl asked after a very long silence. She had blonde pigtails and sweet but wary brown eyes, and underneath the sleeve of her pink sweater, Selina could see the evidence of a fading bruise on the girl's arm.

"No. You and your mom are safe here."

"He always finds us."

Selina frowned and felt a painful tug in her heart. This sweet girl was too young to have to worry about running and being chased. She was too young for her pessimism and yellowing bruises. Then again, Selina had been too young as well. "He's not going to this time, sweetie. I promise."

The girl finally looked up and met Selina's eyes. "You promise?"

Selina nodded, smiling down at her. "Yep. What's your name?"

"Annabelle."

"I'm Selina."

"Nice to meet you, Selina," Annabelle replied perfectly politely, causing Selina's smile to grow.

Just then, her mother reappeared and came hurrying towards her daughter. Selina stood up and watched as she pulled Annabelle close and said, "Come on, Anna - we're going to stay here for awhile, okay? We're safe now."

Annabelle smiled at her mother and then at Selina. She grabbed her juice box from Selina's hand and said in her soft little voice, "Bye, Selina."

Selina gave the girl a wave as she walked away. It blew her mind to think that someday very soon, she'd have her own daughter in her arms, and someday she'd even be Annabelle's size. She wondered if the shock of becoming a mother would ever wane.

She then felt vibration in her jean pocket and pulled out her phone, expecting to see a text from Bruce but finding one from Blake instead.

Curious, she paused and unlocked the phone, then pulled up the text. It consisted of only two words, though she knew they were significant words - _Thank you_.

She paused for a moment, hiding a smile, and checked the time at the top of her phone's touchscreen. Gotham happened to be only an hour ahead of Nassau. She quickly composed a reply.

_Anytime. Must have gone rather well if it took you this long to check in._

She then locked her phone and went about the rest of her day, never receiving a reply from Blake and knowing that was a good thing. Maybe the kid would be alright after all.

If they were really lucky, maybe they'd all be alright.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: First of all, thank you to everyone who reviewed/faved/followed - you're all amazing! Today, due to lucky timing in the story and in real life, we have on our hands... a BatCat Christmas! Hope you all like it :D And just so you guys know... Helena will be arriving soon :) thank you all for being patient :) Hope everyone has an amazing Christmas! And thanks as always to midnightwings96, who really is invaluably awesome :D**

Panting like he'd just run a marathon, Bruce collapsed on his back onto the bed that had been so abused tonight that there were no pillows or sheets left on it, and as he stared at the ceiling and tried to catch his breath, he prayed that maybe this time, Selina would let him go to sleep.

This seemed unlikely, however, as Selina curled up to his side and started peppering his sweat-dampened chest with kisses, her hand running over his abdomen and leg hooking around one of his own, pulling herself closer to him. Her nearly eight-month baby bump was nearing the point of being enormous and it got in the way quite often, especially in bed, but tonight, nothing had managed to slow her down.

The closer she got to the end of the pregnancy, the more insatiable she became, and he'd lost count of how many rounds she'd made him go tonight. All he knew was that his back hurt, almost all of him was sore, and he physically could not go again any time soon even if he'd wanted to.

Her lips kissed up and over his neck and cheek to his ear, and as she lightly nibbled there and very lightly rocked her hips against the side of his own, he chanced a glance at the clock across their room on the wall and widened his eyes at the hour. It was 5 AM and neither of them had slept for more than fifteen minutes total between her bouts of arousal.

He couldn't take another night of this, let alone another two months. She was going to be the death of him.

"Selina," he said breathlessly, taking her hand in his before it started going too low on him and turning on his side to face her, "I really don't think I can do it again."

"Oh, come on," she purred, her legs tightening around his as her fingers rose up to run through his sweat-soaked hair. "One more time?"

"I have to get up in three hours," he said wearily, "and even if I didn't... it won't work."

Undeterred, she started kissing his neck and gave his hair a tug. "I think it would."

"No," he chuckled in exasperation, "I'm serious. I need... to recover. I might need a couple of days, actually."

She pulled away and gave him a look. "I'd go crazy if you made me wait that long."

"So then let me go to sleep and give it a rest," he smiled. He never would have thought that he'd ever be saying these words to her, but he also never expected her to need this extreme amount of physical attention. Were all pregnant women like this?

"You don't understand," she said, her eyes closing briefly. "It almost hurts how bad I need it. After we do it it's okay for a little while and then I look at you and it's back and I can't help it."

His breathing now finally even again, he looked at her for a moment and replied, "I wish I could keep up. I really do, I'm sorry. But I'm older than you, and..."

She narrowed her eyes and then rolled them. "You haven't kept count, have you?"

"No. Why?"

"This last time was number six in a five hour period. I'll go out on a limb and say keeping up isn't the problem. My stupid hormones are the problem."

_Six_ times? Bruce blinked and suddenly didn't feel so old anymore. "Good God."

She pressed her lips together for a moment and muttered, "Sorry. Go to sleep."

She then rolled over, her back to him, and leaned over the bed to pick up the pillows that had been thrown to the floor at some point in the night. She tossed one behind her to him, feeling like a jerk, and placed one under her head.

She wasn't expecting his arm to snake around her waist and his chest to press against her back as he brought his lips to her neck. "Don't be sorry. There's other things I can do to help you that won't kill me."

"I've kept you up long enough," she replied, though she couldn't help the shivers that shot up her spine as his hand moved down her hip and moved inward.

"I think I can handle staying up another minute or two," he said in a low almost-whisper, still trailing his lips over her skin and now using his hand to part her legs. "You know it doesn't take me long."

She let out a shaky breath and turned her head to catch his lips with hers, and held on to his hair with one hand while the other clutched the pillow under her head as his fingers inched closer.

She let out a moan into his mouth when her frustrating throbbing met some relief at his fingertips, and then turned her face towards her pillow as his mouth moved back to her neck. His tongue tasted her skin and left a hot trail as it moved over her pulse, and her body started moving with his hand. He moved with skill and haste, not playing around and not rushing either, but not holding anything back and touching her the way he knew would bring her to her end quickly and powerfully.

Her cue was her hand enclosing tightly around his wrist and her breath coming out in increasingly heavy gasps, and he quickened his pace for the few more moments it took to push her off the edge, a satisfying moan filling his ears as she went.

She let out a contented sigh when he withdrew his hand and closed her eyes as he retrieved a sheet from the floor and wrapped it around them, his arms enclosing around her next and holding her close as he finally closed his eyes as well.

"The sun's coming up," she said sleepily after cracking open one eye and glancing towards their glass doors.

A tortured groan was the only answer she got before his soft snores filled the room.

* * *

"No, Bruce."

"Oh come on, Selina. It's our first Christmas together."

Selina sighed, leaning forward over the sink in their bathroom as much as she could with a giant baby bump in the way, mascara wand in her hand as she tried to ignore the father of her child hovering behind her. She was dressed for the day already, in dark jeans and a flowy aqua blouse that was technically not maternity but worked just fine. He was not, wearing only a pair of jeans and sporting a decent amount of bedhead as well, and he was being very stubborn about the subject of Christmas presents. Maybe, she thought, this was how his brain reacted after being kept up all night by a crazed pregnant woman.

He watched in the mirror as she painted her lashes black and persisted in his arguing. "You can't expect me to not get you something."

"Maybe not," she replied "but I can ask you not to and hope that you respect my wishes."

She then stuck the wand back in the mascara tube and turned around to face him. "I'm serious. I don't want to do gifts."

He opened his mouth to protest and then quickly closed it, looking at her in frustration. "Why?"

She sighed and turned back to the mirror, picking up her comb and running it through her hair almost compulsively. "Just because."

He fought the urge to shake his head. After all this time, after all they'd been through, she still hid her feelings from him often. Even feelings about seemingly harmless things like Christmas.

Bruce then turned and glanced in the mirror and widened his eyes at the horror that was his hair, and then was suddenly reminded of something extremely important to him. "Selina," he said in an earnest tone, "Can you cut my hair before you leave?"

She ceased the rapid combing of her hair and looked at him in the mirror with a look of dread and sadness. "Bruce..."

He held up a hand. "I know you don't want to, but I'm meeting those guys in a few hours and I can't look like this."

"'_This_'," she repeated, turning and smoothing down his shoulder-length hair as best she could, "is amazing. Please don't make me cut it."

He shook his head slightly. "I need to look professional."

"This is the Bahamas, Bruce! Everyone has long hair here! You could show up in shorts and a bad floral shirt with hair to your waist and they wouldn't blink."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Floral shirt?"

"The kind old men wear down here," she sighed, knowing she was getting nowhere with her argument. "I'm not cutting it short."

"I'm not asking for super short, just short enough that I can't put it up and I can slick it back."

She sighed again and pursed her lips, looking around for something for him to sit on as she muttered, "This isn't going to be a $500 haircut, just so you know."

He smirked as she walked out of the bathroom to find him a chair. "I trust you."

"And I keep telling you that you shouldn't."

A few moments later, he was sitting down on a stool from the kitchen in front of the bathroom sink and mirror, and Selina was brushing out his hair while looking almost sick at the thought of hacking off his beautiful dark locks.

"It's just hair, Selina," he said, watching her expressions in the mirror.

She gave him a sideways glare. "Shut up."

When his hair was tangle free and she couldn't postpone the inevitable any longer, she picked up a pair of hair cutting scissors from the counter next to the sink and let out a groan. "Are you sure I can't change your mind?"

He shook his head, hiding a grin. She frowned and grabbed a handful of his hair in the back, then ran the comb down to about his mid-neck, the point that she was comfortable with cutting it, and put the scissors to his hair.

A soft snip sound, and the first lock of his hair hit the floor. The first one turned out to be most difficult, and the more she cut, the less sad she felt about it.

She didn't speak until she was trimming the sides and found a small but bright patch of silver hair buried under a mass of brown. "Well, look what we have here."

He knew what she was talking about without even having to look up. "I've had random gray hairs popping up since I was 28. It's not a big deal."

"Whatever you say," she smirked,

"It's not," he insisted. "Kind of like how me buying you a gift isn't a big deal."

She rolled her eyes, and he saw her jaw clench just slightly. What in the world about Christmas was causing that kind of reaction in her?

"Do you not like Christmas? Did something happen one year, or...?"

"I like Christmas fine, Bruce. Nothing happened," she replied flatly, walking around him to face him and trim the front of his hair.

He looked intently into her eyes and she tried to ignore him, but it was hard to do when their faces were only inches apart.

"Just tell me what's wrong, Selina."

She stopped snipping long enough to look down at him and snap, "Fine, you really want to know?"

He steeled himself at her combative tone. He knew it well.

"I don't want to do gifts because I don't deserve anything from you and I have nothing to give you. Do you understand or do I need to explain it more?"

He heard a mixture of hormones and genuine anger in her voice. "Actually yeah, I think I do need you to explain."

She grabbed the front of the hair on the other side of his face and started cutting almost violently, and he suddenly became nervous at how he was going to look when this was over. "You know I have issues with guilt. And it doesn't help that I've been living off your money for a long time now and doing nothing to support myself."

"But you work -"

"As a volunteer!" she half-laughed. "And tell me, what the hell am I supposed to give you? You're Bruce Wayne, you've had everything and nothing and now you have everything again, and there's nothing I can give you that you don't already have. Unless you want a blow job for Christmas - I know at least I'm pretty good at those."

He stared at her with his mouth hanging open slightly. This seemed to set her off even more.

"I mean, don't you see the differences between us? You're this brilliant man who just bought a hospital like it was lunch, and now you're going to change so many people's lives. You're freaking Batman. And here I am, mooching off you and acting like I'm doing something that matters at the shelter and waiting for the day that the blow jobs aren't enough and you get sick of me and go find someone you actually have something in common with."

It was exquisite word vomit, the very definition of verbal diarrhea, and as she threw the scissors down into the sink and crossed her arms angrily, he could barely find his voice. "You can't possibly think..."

"Oh yes I can," she seethed, looking at her feet and refusing to look up.

He looked around, wracking his brain under his furrowed brow, his face bewildered. "Have I done something to make you think all of this?"

"No, you idiot, of course you haven't - you're perfect!" she spat. "That's the problem!"

He became even more confused looking at this. "So... do you _want_ me to be a jerk? I'm not understanding this."

He saw tears filling her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak again, her eyes still averted. "Are you only with me because of the baby?"

His jaw dropped again and his eyes widened almost comically. This took the cake of absurdity, hands down. "Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Selina," he said, standing up, "I'd be with you if you _couldn't_ have kids. I'd be with you if we were broke, if you were sick, 300 pounds, anything you can think of - I'd still be with you because I love you. I thought you knew that."

He reached out for her but she dodged his hand, and one of the tears she'd been fighting so hard spilled over. "I don't understand why."

"Why I love you?" he guessed. She nodded. He thought for a moment and then answered with another question. "Why _wouldn't_ I?"

She looked up at him with a wearily obvious expression. "Did you really just ask me that?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and stepped forward, placing his hands on her sides whether she wanted him to or not. "Listen to me. I could spend all day, every day, listing all the reasons why I love you and why you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I'd be happy to do that. But I don't think even that would convince you. Tell me what I have to do - please. I'll do anything."

She looked up at him, feeling stupid and crazy and ridiculous, wondering why she was trying so hard to find something wrong with their relationship.

"I've already told you," she muttered, sniffing, "you're basically perfect. I don't know what to tell you."

He brought his hand to her cheek and caressed it softly with his thumb, wiping away the trail of her lone fallen teardrop. "I think that soon, when Helena's here and you see what you've given me... you'll see that you actually deserve more than I could ever give you."

"Any girl can get knocked up and give you a kid, Bruce," she replied with an unimpressed tone.

"I'm talking about a lot more than Helena," he said. "But I think maybe it'll sink in for you once she's here."

She didn't answer, sighing instead and reaching behind her to grab a little container of hair product next to the sink. Then she sat Bruce back down and checked her work on his hair before combing it back and running a dollop of the product through his hair, slicking it back and making him look like Bruce Wayne once again. Besides the attractive scruff on his face that he'd decided to keep, anyway.

"There," she said in a flat tone, moving out of the way so that he could see her work in the mirror. "I did my best."

"It's great," he said, relieved to not have the mess of long hair anymore. The subject change was nice too. "Thank you."

She crossed her arms and started to walk out of the room. "Don't forget, we have that stupid Lamaze class today at 4."

"Stupid?" he repeated, standing up and inspecting his hair more closely in the mirror. "I think it'll be fun."

"You probably think childbirth will be fun too," she called out from their bedroom.

"... No," he replied after a brief pause. "That I'm scared of."

"Why? It's not like you'll be the one pushing and screaming."

He leaned away from the mirror and imagined holding Selina's hand during labor... and pulling back a bloody stump. "You're right."

She then reentered the bathroom, purse in hand, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Bye. Good luck with your meeting."

He reached out and grabbed her by her hand and pulled her back when she tried to turn away, a playfully slighted look on his face. "What kind of kiss was that?"

"The kind that I can safely give you without having to stay behind an extra fifteen minutes and be late," she replied.

He grinned and leaned into her, kissing her cheek softly. "Fair enough."

She then pulled away once again and said, "No gifts. I mean it."

He looked at her a little wearily but replied, "Fine. I promise not to buy you anything for Christmas."

"Good," she replied, and in another moment, she was gone for the day.

What she didn't know was that he hadn't planned on actually buying her anything for Christmas in the first place.

* * *

"How did the meeting go?" Selina asked, settling down on a mat with some difficulty, as Bruce did the same behind her. They were in the maternity wing of Nassau General Hospital, the very one run by Douglas Whitestone, sitting amongst about eleven other couples and waiting for the labor class to start.

"It went well," Bruce replied. "Got two more investors on board."

"Good," she replied, leaning back against him. "Let's hope nobody here recognizes us. Things could get awkward, you being the new competition and all."

A young woman then walked into the room and identified herself as the Lamaze instructor, and Selina listened as she started detailing what they would go over today in the class. She was skeptical of the effectiveness of any of it, and she doubted she would need to know any of it anyway since she planned on getting an epidural as soon as humanly possible once labor started. But Bruce had insisted they do the class, saying something about wanting to be a "good labor partner" that was too adorable to argue with.

They started with something simple enough, with the women leaning back against their men and inhaling through the nose, then exhaling through the mouth. Selina felt a little silly doing it but did her best anyway, trying not to laugh as Bruce's hands rested on her belly and promptly got the crap kicked out of them by their restless child.

More breathing techniques followed, and just as Selina felt herself on the brink of napping, birthing balls were brought out. Before she knew it, she was sitting on a bright pink one, still breathing ridiculously, following instructions and moving around in small circles on the ball. Again, she had no idea how that was supposed to help deal with excruciating pain.

Then the men were told to rub their women's backs as they balanced on the balls, and Selina glanced back at Bruce as she whispered, "How is any of this supposed to help labor?"

He grinned, gently running his hand along her back, and whispered back, "Aren't you listening? Sitting like that is supposed to help guide the baby down. Or something."

Selina raised a brow and then attempted to turn her attention back to the instructor, but Bruce turned out to be extremely and unintentionally distracting. The more he touched her, as innocent of touching as it was, the more squirmy she got.

She looked around at the other couples around them and scanned the women's faces, finding no trace of the distracting, pleasant discomfort she was feeling, and she started to wonder what in the world was wrong with her. Was she the only one like this?

To make matters worse, Bruce could apparently read her like a book. He leaned in and whispered, "Calm down."

"Breathing in my ear isn't helping, genius."

Maybe it was payback for last night, but Bruce grinned and then pulled away after leaving a chaste-looking kiss on her neck that was actually anything but. She gritted her teeth and stared at the instructor, not at all happy that she had thirty more minutes of this to deal with.

* * *

Later on, when they got home, she didn't let Bruce get past the living room before she jumped him. His prediction of needing a few days to rest after the previous night turned out to be highly inaccurate, and by the time they were done and lying on the floor next to the couch they'd missed entirely, Selina was in his arms and once again on the verge of falling asleep.

He tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling as he said, "I stayed up all night for you. The least you could do is stay up all day for me."

"I cut your hair," she muttered, closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest. "My debt is paid."

He chuckled, running his fingers through her hair. "Then at least watch the sunset with me before you crash."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him skeptically. "The sunset? Really?"

"What?"

She shook her head, smiling. "Nothing. Fine, let's go."

"Okay," he said as she rose up and then braced herself as she tried to get to her feet. "You go on and I'll be out there in a minute."

She grunted something in response, throwing her clothes back on and heading out to their deck as he grabbed his phone and sent a covert text that he immediately deleted from his sent folder.

Moments later, under a sky of vivid blues, pinks and a single stripe of bright orange, they were sitting barefoot in the sand on a towel, watching the sun fall lower on the horizon. Bruce wore khaki shorts and an open white button down shirt, while Selina lounged in his arms in her flowy aqua blouse and dark blue jeans. Her hair was down and a little messy as it spilled over her shoulders, and Bruce's had long since fallen into his eyes from his earlier sleek look.

"I'll admit," Selina sighed, her hand on his leg as his fingers moved through her hair, "this wasn't a bad idea."

It was snowing back in their shared hometown of Gotham but it was as sunny and warm as ever in their still-new island home. It was like an endless summer, and after the coldness of both their lives, they weren't getting sick of it anytime soon.

"Told you," he said, bringing one of his hands to the top of her belly. "How's she doing in there?"

"Sleeping, I think," Selina replied, placing her hand on top of his. "First time I've gotten a break from the kicking all day. I think she must be getting bored in there."

Bruce exhaled a quiet laugh, resting his chin on the top of Selina's head. "I can't wait until she's here."

Selina stayed silent, caught between her general tiring of pregnancy and her deep anxiety of what would happen once the baby was finally earthside. She wasn't surprised when Bruce's apparent sixth sense about her inner thoughts showed itself again.

"You're going to be a great mother," Bruce murmured against her ear. "You already are."

Her hand still over his on her belly, she reached her other to his cheek and then to his hair, then replied, "I love you for believing that."

"It's the truth," he said before capturing her lips in a soft kiss.

When he said it, sometimes, she could almost believe him.

* * *

A week before Christmas, Selina found herself alone and bored in her big house. Bruce was over in Nassau, dealing with the less interesting, tiring aspects of opening a new hospital, and Molly was away with Christian to his other home in London. To keep from going stir crazy and eating every last thing in the house, Selina headed over to Leslie and Alfred's house.

Immediately upon arrival, Leslie put Selina to work helping her decorate the house for the holidays.

"Where's Alfred?" Selina asked, picking up some snowman figurines out of a cardboard box and looking around the living room to figure out where to put them.

"With Bruce, of course," Leslie smiled, stringing lights along the mantle across the room.

"He is?"

"Oh yes. He's over the moon that Bruce is opening a hospital. He actually cried a little bit when he told me about it."

Selina smiled, setting the snowmen down on a coffee table and then picking them back up because they looked ridiculous there. "I'm happy, too."

"You know that Alfred gives you full credit for it," Leslie said, coming by and kindly taking the snowmen from Selina. She hadn't expected the younger woman to be much for decorating.

"For what?"

"Bruce finally deciding to do something healthy with his life. He also believes you're the only reason he bailed out of that... whatever that thing was, when the bomb went off."

Selina paused for a moment, then replied, "Well, you can tell Alfred that Bruce and I talked about that awhile ago. And he bailed out for Alfred as much as he did for me."

Leslie smiled a little at this. "I'll tell him."

Next to one of the boxes of Christmas trinkets was a box labelled "Wayne Manor", and being curious, Selina walked over to it and peeked inside.

On top of the box was a framed photo she'd seen once before, half-burnt and tattered, of Thomas and Martha Wayne. As she picked it up and looked it over, Leslie walked up behind her and said, "Alfred plans to give that to Bruce for Christmas."

"He'll love it," Selina said, setting it down and glancing at the box's other contents.

"I don't know much of what's in there," Leslie said. "Alfred only got it out to find the picture."

Selina fished around and then enclosed her fingers around the spine of a small children's book, which she then pulled out and looked over. It was the story of Noah's Ark.

"That," Leslie said, "I do know about. That was one of Bruce's favorite books as a child, Alfred says he made his parents read it to him almost every night. After they died, Alfred would read it to him. For the familiarity of it, I suppose. The edges are a bit burnt but it survived the fire fine."

It seemed fitting, Selina thought. The story of an enormous flood, the virtual end of a world, and the promise of new life and new beginnings among the destruction. The inklings of an idea began to form in her mind.

"Do you think Alfred would mind if I gave this to Bruce?" Selina asked, turning to Leslie. "I made him promise to not do gifts but this is... different."

"Oh, no, dear. He won't mind. He'll think it's a lovely idea. I'm sure Bruce would love to read to his daughter from the same book his parents read to him."

"That's my idea," Selina said.

"Why aren't you doing gifts for each other?" Leslie inquired. "It's your first Christmas together."

Selina frowned then, replying with a sigh, "Well, for one thing, he spent his last Christmas wasting away in a pit on the other side of the planet because of me."

"You think you don't deserve anything from him," Leslie surmised.

"Pretty much. It's hard enough knowing everything else he's done for me, like this island and the house and just everything, when I know that if he's having a bad day and in pain, it's because of me. It would almost be easier if he'd just get pissed off about it every once in awhile and blame me, but he never does. Ever. He really doesn't hold it against me, and it drives me crazy. Because he should."

"Do you hold against him any of the injuries or suffering you've endured because of being associated with him?" Leslie asked.

"No, and it's not the same thing."

"Maybe it is the same thing."

Selina sighed, dropping down on the couch, book still in hand. "I wish somebody would just call me an evil bitch sometimes. Stop trying to skate around what I've done in the past."

Leslie sat down next to Selina, both women looking forward as the older one spoke. "Speaking from experience... forgiving yourself is harder than forgiving your worst enemy. Much harder. But you must learn to do it. For both your sake and Bruce's. I don't imagine that it's easy for him to watch you keep torturing yourself when he's long forgiven you."

"The thing is," Selina said, "I could live with what I did until I fell in love with him. I could block it out and pretend that I hadn't had a choice at the time. I had nightmares about it but I got good at ignoring them. That all went out the window when we... got together."

She could never quite pinpoint when they'd officially "gotten together", or even when she'd fallen in love with him. Their relationship had occupied such a deep shade of gray at first, and in some areas, it still did. And as far as when she fell for him, these days she was pretty sure that took place in Gotham, when she'd kissed him before he jumped into the Bat to fly to his death. After that, it was only a question of falling deeper and deeper.

"Maybe when the baby comes," Leslie said, "things will move more into perspective for you."

"That's the same thing Bruce said," Selina said, furrowing her brows. "What exactly is supposed to happen when she's born that'll make me suddenly all guilt-free? Am I supposed to have an epiphany or something?"

"That's exactly what you'll have," Leslie smiled. "I haven't experienced it myself, as you know, but what other mothers have told me is that your world changes the instant you see that little face and hear those cries. And you know Bruce, Selina. You know how ecstatic he'll be. Once you see the incredible gift you've given him and how happy he'll be to have a child in his arms... surely you'll see that the debt has been paid many times over."

Then Selina voiced a fear that she had admitted to nobody until now. "What if I feel nothing when she's born?"

Leslie didn't blink. "Every first time mother has that fear. But let me ask you - do you feel nothing right now?"

Selina shook her head. "No."

"Did you feel nothing during the ultrasounds you've had?"

"I felt a lot when I saw those," Selina replied quietly.

"Then you especially have nothing to worry about. But I know you won't believe me until the day comes and you see for yourself."

Selina smiled at this. "I'm a giant pain in the ass, I know."

"No," Leslie said, placing a hand on Selina's shoulder. "You're just a product of your past, like all of us. And this is all new and scary. I wish I could speak more from experience about the baby stuff, but I can't. I wish your mother was here to answer your questions. I'm sure she'd do a better job than me."

"You do a great job," Selina reassured her. "But I wish she was here too. Even though she'd kick my ass for having a baby out of wedlock. She'd kick my ass for a lot of reasons."

"That's what mothers do," Leslie smiled. "As you'll learn in a few years. For some reason I can't imagine the child of Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne being an easy, obedient child. Let alone adolescent."

Selina snorted. "If she takes after me, life will be hell. And Bruce will die young of heart failure."

"I think the same could be said if she takes after him, as well."

"Yep. We're screwed."

* * *

Five days before Christmas, Selina was standing in her living room, in front of the enormous tree that Bruce had had imported from the states to their house for a ridiculous amount of money - none of the trees on the island were "right" for Christmas, according to him - with a silver glass ornament in her hand. She reached up to place it upon one of the higher branches when she suddenly felt something soft being shoved on to her head.

"Really, Bruce?" she asked, smiling despite herself as she reached up and touched the felt Santa hat he'd placed on her head. She turned around and found him grinning, wearing his own hat and looking adorably ridiculous.

"Nothing wrong with being festive, right?" he said, leaning in and giving her a soft kiss.

"Of course not," she said, turning back to face the tree as he held her from behind, his arms wrapped around her belly and lips near her ear. "It's a big change from bat ears."

"And cat ears," he murmured, watching as she hung the silver ornament. "When was the last time you decorated a tree?"

She paused, having to take a moment to really reach deeply in her brain to remember. "It's been a long time. Probably five years. What about you?"

Bruce paused for a moment before replying quietly, "Not since my parents died."

She turned her head and looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Alfred's always done it," Bruce shrugged. "And I've never cared or wanted to until this year."

Selina smiled lightly and glanced back at the tree. "Well, you're definitely making up for it now."

"I'm trying," he said. "But next year is when we'll have to really go all out."

Selina chuckled. "She won't even remember her first Christmas, Bruce."

"Doesn't matter," Bruce said. "She'll still have the best one in the history of first Christmases. I'll buy her a pony if I have to."

Selina laughed heartily at this. "No ponies until she's at least five. But maybe a kitty."

"Deal," Bruce chuckled, turning her back around in his arms for another kiss.

After he pulled away, smiling that small but achingly genuine smile of his, Selina reached up and brushed aside some of his hair that was sticking out from under the rim of his hat. "You look adorable like this."

"Adorable," he repeated, considering the word. "That's one word you've never used to describe me before."

"First time for everything, I guess."

"I'll take it," he replied. "But I can't say the same for you."

"No?"

He shook his head. "You're more... distractingly and ridiculously sexy."

"Well that's not so bad," she grinned, her arms sliding up around his neck.

"Not at all. In fact, I'd prefer you in nothing but the Santa hat."

She raised an eyebrow, playing along. "Well... maybe that can be arranged, Mr. Wayne."

Then she brought her lips to his neck, and he closed his eyes, silently wishing he could reply with some witty line involving the use of the term "Mrs. Wayne", but choosing to be content with what he had now, which was, after all, more than he could have ever dared to ask for.

* * *

Christmas Day, Bruce sat next to Selina on Alfred and Leslie's couch, holding a framed photo in his hands that he knew very well but hadn't seen in a long time.

It represented far more than his parents' images. Partially burned and torn in half, it could have been a metaphor for his life - broken, burned, and full of painful memories, but pasted back together and held in place with love that he clung to as desperately as he could.

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said quietly, looking up at his former butler briefly, making sure to avert his eyes before anyone could see the moisture there.

"You're welcome, sir," Alfred replied, feeling his own emotions start getting the better of him as well.

After building them a house and then tapping Leslie to be chief of medicine at Bruce's new hospital, the older couple had insisted on receiving no gifts from Bruce or Selina, and they'd reluctantly agreed. This made Selina feel especially indebted when Leslie handed her a gift.

It was flat and felt like some kind of large book as Selina took it. "You really didn't have to get me anything..."

"Oh, nonsense," Leslie smiled. "It's something you need, and anyway, it cost me less than a tank of gas."

Selina unwrapped it to reveal a pale lavender baby book. It was full of empty pages and places to place photos to commit to memory all of the big and little things about pregnancy and the first five years of the child's life. It was something Selina had never thought to get until now.

Selina smiled at the older woman. "Thank you."

Leslie nodded. "You'd better take lots of pictures of that baby when she comes. Even when you're exhausted and you haven't slept in weeks, take pictures."

"I'm sure Bruce will have that covered," Selina said, giving Bruce a chiding look. "He's had his camera in my face nonstop for the last seven months."

"Ah, yes, he's always had a knack for photography," Alfred chimed in. "Never used it much, though. Glad to hear that's changed."

"Just one of many things you can give Selina credit for," Bruce replied, giving Selina a smile that she only hesitated very briefly to return.

They spent the morning with Alfred and Leslie, and then for dinner went to Molly and Christian's house, after Molly begged them with giant puppy dog eyes and bribed them with descriptions of the homemade desserts that she'd whipped up.

An hour and a half later, after Selina had nudged Bruce with her elbow and he'd taken his cue that she was extremely done with social interaction for the day, they were both relieved to walk through their own doors and be back in the solitude of their own house.

Selina kicked off her shoes in the hallway as Bruce closed the door behind them. "Thank God," she groaned. "How's a bath sound?"

Unexpectedly, his hands covered her eyes from behind. "Maybe later. First, I've got something to show you."

"Do _not_ tell me you got me something. You promised, Bruce."

"I know what I promised," he replied, pressing a kiss just under her ear. "Walk with me."

He led her down the hall and up the stairs to their room, and she protested the whole way.

"It had better be... I don't know... something extremely small. If it's another island, I'll scream."

"I didn't buy you another island. I didn't buy you anything."

"Then what's with the..."

He dropped his hands then, and she trailed off mid-sentence as her eyes adjusted and she found herself looking at her bed. Then her eyes moved upwards and her jaw dropped a little.

On the wall above their bed hung a framed photo of them, 24 inches by 36 inches, and she had no recollection of it ever being taken. It was beautiful - she was lying in his arms on the beach, one hand in his hair as she kissed him, while the other hand held his to her belly. Above them the sky was a brilliant mix of blue, pink and orange, set off by the setting sun. It was spectacular, and all Selina could manage to say was, "_How_?"

"Molly," he replied with a smile, standing next to her and admiring the photo. "She was hiding behind a palm tree with my camera. We planned it pretty meticulously, actually. Remember that day?"

It took her a moment, but she did recall that day. She remembered that very moment, still in disbelief that a photo of it was hanging above her bed.

"I wanted to do this to show you what I see. What everyone else sees."

What she could see was all of Bruce's words that she couldn't bring herself to believe, all of the love that she knew was there and could barely accept, and in that moment, she wondered why in the world she was sometimes so hellbent on finding a reason to not deserve it.

Maybe whether she deserved it or not wasn't as relevant as she once thought. One thing she knew for sure - they were beautiful, and what they had was beautiful. As much on the outside as on the inside. That could not be denied.

He turned to her then, and she tore her eyes away from the photo to meet his gaze. "Thank you," she said softly.

He smiled and brought his lips to hers for a gentle kiss. After, as he rested his forehead against hers, she said, "You lied to me."

"I did?"

"That frame must have cost something," she said, pulling away, a good-natured grin on her face.

"Actually, that frame is from Wayne Manor. One of the things that survived the fire years ago. The picture didn't make it, but the frame did. You can see the singes around the edges if you look closely."

She nodded, then paused and asked, "What picture used to be in it?"

"One of my parents' wedding photos."

She thought that he was studying her for a reaction, like he was trying to detect panic, but she couldn't have freaked out right now if she'd wanted to. She felt oddly at peace as she gave the picture one last look before heading to their dresser and pulling out the top drawer.

She grabbed the story of Noah's Ark and walked back to Bruce, sighing as she said, "Mine's nowhere near as good, but here."

She held it out to him and he looked down, taking it from her and staring at it for a moment before his eyes suddenly brightened and he said, "Is this...?"

"Yours, from when you were a kid," she nodded. "I found it at Alfred's house. I figured you might... want to read it to Helena or something. Like I said, it's nowhere near as good, but..."

He turned the book over in his hand and then looked up at her, smiling, as she shifted uncomfortably. "It's great. I love it."

He took her in his arms and embraced her, still holding the book in his hand, and as always, she thought that what she could give him couldn't amount to what he gave her. But she put the thought out of her mind as best she could and returned his embrace.

"I mean it," he murmured against her ear, as in tune with her thoughts as ever. "I really do love it."

She drew back and smiled. "Okay."

Then she glanced across the room, back to their photo on the wall. "We sure look good together."

"We _are_ good together," he retorted with a grin.

"Even if we apparently don't keep our promises."

He shrugged, turning and placing the book next to the tattered photo of his parents that he'd placed on the dresser. "We keep the ones that matter."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: my usual hugs and thanks to all of you who have reviewed, favorited, alerted - I love you all and you are amazing :D and thank you to midnightwings96, who is amazing as always :) a bit shorter chapter today, but one that was a lot of fun to write :) hope you all enjoy!**

On the morning of February 14th, Bruce awoke alone and earlier than usual. Over the last two months, Selina had become the world's most restless sleeper, unable to find a comfortable position no matter what she did, and he'd gotten so used to it that now he couldn't sleep without the constant tossing and turning and shaking of the bed**. **

He dragged himself out of bed and took a few moments to brush his teeth and throw on a robe before setting out to find out what had woken up Selina so early. He headed down the hallway and found her quickly, watching from the doorway of Helena's nursery as she stood in the now fully furnished room, folding tiny pink clothes and putting them away in a dresser.

Her back was to him, and he watched her in silence, fighting a smile that was tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I know you're standing there," she said in a flat tone, not bothering to turn around, continuing to fold. "And if you say something about finding me folding baby clothes at 6 in the morning to be cute, I'll break your nose."

Bruce grinned, stepping inside the room and looking around. She'd completely rearranged the entire nursery, down to the crib and rocking chair, even the pink and brown letters on the wall that spelled out Helena's name above the changing table. "You've been busy today."

"I'm nesting," Selina muttered.

"Nesting?"

"It's apparently what pregnant women do when they're about to spit the kid out," she replied, shoving a few more outfits into the dresser and finally meeting Bruce's gaze. "I cleaned the entire house too. I've been up since 4:30. I can't stop. I think I'm losing it."

Bruce smiled and put an arm around her shoulder, leading her away from the baby clothes and to the rocking chair. He sat down and then pulled her to his lap, not complaining about the forty extra pounds on her that made his back start instantly straining. "Don't worry. I'm here to keep you from losing it."

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as he rubbed her back. "I'm so tired but I can't sleep. I want this to be over. I can't take it anymore."

"Your due date's only, what, two weeks away? Twelve days?"

She groaned. "Might as well be twelve years."

He chuckled. "Do you work today?"

She nodded. "Only a few hours. You're meeting me at the church afterwards, right? I'm not going to Molly's wedding alone."

"I'd never make you go to a wedding alone," Bruce replied, running his fingers through her almost waist-length hair. Pregnancy had made it grow like crazy, and it was the longest he'd ever seen it.

"I hate weddings," she muttered. "Only ones I've been to were with marks, as their date. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Yes, but Molly's a friend, and she'd make both our lives hell if we didn't go," Bruce gently reminded her.

Selina made another groaning noise. "Good God, we have friends now. I've become a pod person."

Bruce laughed. "Is the pod person hungry?"

She shook her head. "I ate already. There's pancakes if you want some."

Bruce paused, then looked down at her. "You made pancakes, cleaned the house, and rearranged the nursery, all in an hour and a half?"

"I told you, I'm losing it."

He raised his brows as she dropped her head back down on his shoulder. "I'm impressed."

They sat for a moment, one of his hands on her leg and the other still playing with her hair, before she pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. "Can you help me take a shower?"

He knew how much she despised asking for this kind of help, and it was evident in her loathsome tone, but she was too enormous these days to even shave her own legs. "Of course I can."

He then got to his feet, still holding her, and tried not to show any outward signs of struggle as he carried her to the bathroom.

"Bruce, your back -"

"Yeah, this isn't working," he admitted, putting her down on her feet in the hallway. He then straightened with a wince, smiling at her through the pain.

She sighed and turned away, walking to the bathroom as he followed. "I am so done with this. And I'm never getting pregnant again after this, by the way. It's miserable. I don't understand why anyone would do this on purpose."

Bruce smirked, having heard this same speech at least once a day for the last month. "Probably because it's all worth it once you have the baby in your arms."

Selina scoffed, walking inside the bathroom and heading to the shower to turn it on while Bruce shed his robe. "She'll probably never come out. I'm going to be pregnant and miserable forever because apparently my uterus is a damn comfortable place."

She started yanking off her shirt as Bruce couldn't hold back a laugh. "You aren't even overdue yet. She still needs time to... bake, or cook, or whatever it is people say."

Selina threw her shirt aside and looked at him incredulously. "'Cook'?"

"... You know. Bun in the oven or whatever. Cooking. I don't know."

"Shut up."

"Okay."

* * *

After almost sleeping through four hours of work, Selina was getting ready to gather her things and leave for the day when Brenda poked her head out of her office and called out to Selina as she walked by. "Can I get a minute, Selina?"

"Sure," Selina sighed, stepping inside the office as Brenda held the door open for her. She plopped down in the chair in front of the older woman's desk and rubbed her tired eyes as Brenda closed the door and headed back to her own chair.

"You look exhausted so I'll get right to the point," Brenda said, sitting down and earning a frown from Selina. "My grandson was diagnosed with leukemia yesterday."

Selina's eyes widened. "Oh - wow, I'm so sorry."

Brenda nodded. "I'm telling you because my daughter's a single mother, and because her insurance is through her job, she can't take any time off to care for him. So I'm resigning and moving in with her while he gets his treatment."

Selina nodded. "Okay. I hope everything works out and he recovers. How old is he?"

"He's only five," Brenda sighed. "But I'm telling you this because I'm offering you my job."

Selina blinked. "... Oh."

"Do you want it?"

"Well - but there's other girls who've been here longer than me, and -"

" You're the only one I'm comfortable with leaving in charge," Brenda said quickly. "You're efficient and compassionate without letting the place drag you down. I already see you maintaining a balance emotionally that I've never figured out myself."

Selina swallowed and considered the choice before her. This would be her second promotion in only a few months, and running a women's shelter was unlike anything she'd ever done before. It would be a considerable challenge, especially considering she was also going to give birth to her first child any day now. She had no idea how she was supposed to handle both the shelter and her first baby at the same time, especially while Bruce was busy himself building a hospital, and all things considered, she thought it may just be the most daunting challenge of her life.

And that was exactly why she said yes. "I'll do it."

"Fantastic. Now, I know you're about to pop any day now, and my last day here isn't for two weeks. So I'll teach you the basics, and I'll let you hire someone to replace you. And you can always call me in the future if you have questions. I'm not dumping the place on you. It was dumped on me and it was hell. I wouldn't do that to you."

Selina nodded, already knowing who she planned on hiring to replace herself. "Thank you."

Brenda nodded. "Thank you for taking the job. It's one less thing I have to stress about now."

Selina took in a deep breath, then smiled and said good naturedly, "That makes one of us."

* * *

By the time she met Bruce at the church that Molly and Christian were getting married at within the hour, she was bursting to tell him the news and nearly did burst when she met him at the front steps of the building.

He was dressed impeccably in a black suit - all black, even the shirt and tie, Selina noted happily - and his hands were in his pockets as he smiled adorably at her while she wobbled up the steps. She didn't feel that her deep purple dress quite measured up to his attire, but she had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

"I have news," she grinned as they kissed softly.

"So do I," he smiled. "You go first."

"Well, I -"

The sound of a disturbingly screechy wail coming from inside the church cut Selina off, and they both turned towards the doors just as the burst open and a crying Molly appeared, flanked by three other women.

"No, it's not going to work! We'll have to pick another day!" Molly cried, her blonde hair swept up in an elegant twist and makeup done, but wearing pink sweats instead of her dress. Then she saw Selina and started crying even harder. "Oh, my God, Selina! Maggie's sick, she threw up everywhere and now she says she can't be in the wedding anymore. I can't have uneven pictures! Chris has four groomsmen - it won't work!"

Selina squinted, wondering who Maggie was, and then Molly's expression changed within the blink of an eye.

"Oh my God!" she squeaked. "Selina - will you stand in for Maggie? She's fat, so you might fit in her dress!"

Bruce covered his mouth to keep from laughing, the other bridesmaids groaned, and Molly's expression turned horrified. "I'm so sorry - I'm so stupid - I'm sorry!"

"It's fine," Selina rolled her eyes. "I'm as big as a house, I get it."

"Will you do it?" Molly asked, her blue eyes taking a puppy dog form, hands clasped together as she begged. "Please? I'll love you forever and make you muffins every day and clean your house, I'll watch the baby if you two want a date night - please?"

Selina opened her mouth but didn't say anything, desperately wanting to say no, and in her desperation she glanced to Bruce for help. His grin told her that she was on her own, and with a roll of her eyes, Selina sighed and gave in. "Fine."

"Oh, thank you!" Molly squeaked, throwing her arms around Selina, who looked as if she were being tortured. "I can't thank you enough! Oh my God, we have to hurry now - we're so behind on getting ready!"

Selina shot a very highly amused Bruce a look of misery as Molly dragged her inside the church, planning to make him suffer later for not saving her from her grim fate as a last minute bridesmaid.

* * *

Luckily, the dress she had to fit into was flowy and made mostly of aqua-tinted chiffon, and only a few pins were needed to fit the dress comfortably on her body. One of the other bridesmaids, a short, dark blonde girl named Bethany, helped get Selina ready while the other two got Molly into her dress.

"How do you know Molly?" Bethany asked as she fixed Selina's hair.

"We're neighbors," Selina sighed, closing her eyes and wishing she could nap instead of being in a wedding. "You?"

"We used to dance together," she replied. "Same with Erica. Her maid of honor, Jenny, she knows from high school."

"Oh. So you're from LA?"

"Yep. Still waiting for my own Christian to come along and sweep me off my feet." Selina chuckled, and Bethany smiled and shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I wouldn't mind it, but I'm fine with what I do. For now."

"We all do what we have to do. As long as it's your choice, it's that simple."

"It is. I've almost saved up enough for college. So, joke's on everyone else. Here, see how you like that."

Selina struggled out of the chair she was in and walked to one of the full length mirrors in the room, and examined her reflection. She thought she looked decent - the dress was pretty enough, nice aqua color, floor length and elegant but simple, and the plunging neckline accentuated her almost comically enlarged bust. Bethany had fixed her straight hair half-up, with a twist at the back of her head so that it wasn't just a simple half-ponytail. All in all, Selina figured she looked good enough.

"Oh, Selina, you're gorgeous!" Molly exclaimed as the other two girls laced up the back of her dress. She was wearing a full ball gown with a corseted top, embellished with a generous amount of hand-sewn beading on all of the top and sprinkled throughout the skirt. It also had a train that went on for days, and tack on the diamond tiara she wore on her head, and she looked every bit a glamorous princess.

"So do you," Selina smiled, still highly annoyed that she was here, but she couldn't be too miserable when Molly was so overly and contagiously happy. "You look like royalty. Seriously."

Molly smiled. "Thanks."

Then there was a tap at the door, and a girl rushed inside and whispered something to Molly, whose expression immediately became furious.

"They. Did. _What_?!"

The girl shrugged. "I told them but they didn't listen and -"

"Oh my God," Molly growled, "go back and tell them that if they so much as look at my topiaries, I'll make sure they can never have kids."

The girl nodded and ran off, and Molly turned back to the mirror, grumbling under her breath, "Bastards trying to move my topiaries. I swear I will cut someone."

Selina glanced at Bethany, who leaned in and whispered, "She made these ridiculous looking topiaries and insisted they go where the aisle starts. The photographer told her they'd be in the way of his shots but she ignored them. I guess they tried to move them anyway."

Then another girl ran in, whispered something else to Molly, who then exclaimed, "Then tell the caterers to get more! I cannot have a reception without the gluten-free cupcakes, okay, I can't! Half the people here think they have Celiac's disease, what am I supposed to tell them? Sorry, it's all in your head, eat some of this regular cake and spend all night on the toilet?! Tell them to get it together!"

Silently, Selina decided that if she ever did marry Bruce, she'd try to convince him to elope.

* * *

Five more mini-crises later, the time to get the ceremony started had arrived, and Selina lined up with the other women to begin the walk down the aisle of the chapel.

It was a beautiful church, large but not audaciously so, and the stained glass windows and stunning artwork at the helm was almost breathtaking, even to Selina. As she waited to walk, she looked out among the guests that lined the pews, and was surprised to find them full of barely nobody under the age of thirty. Neither side had any parents, grandparents, not even anyone who could pass for aunts or uncles. Then, when she looked behind her, Selina realized that Molly's maid of honor would be the one walking her down the aisle.

Selina knew Molly's story and knew why her family wasn't here, and she could only assume Christian's family was MIA because they didn't approve of her.

Then Helena stirred within the increasingly cramped confines of Selina's womb, and unexpectedly, Selina thought to herself how she'd never dare miss her daughter's wedding, no matter who she was marrying or what circumstances may be. Then the music started, and she clutched the small white and pale pink rose bouquet in her hands as she began the walk down the aisle, getting kicked the whole way down by the baby whose existence was becoming more and more real with each passing moment.

Bruce grinned at her as she passed him, and she rolled her eyes at him but grinned back. Her mind flickered back to their disastrous conversation about marriage a few months ago, and she tried to imagine walking down this aisle in a white dress with a much bigger bouquet. It still didn't feel right.

She took her place next to the other bridesmaids, and watched as Molly walked happily to her almost-husband, who himself couldn't have looked happier or more handsome. Her eyes flickered to Bruce once more, and she knew immediately what he was thinking about. He was having the very same vision she'd had only a moment ago, except for him, it undoubtedly felt extremely right.

Then the priest began to speak, and she shooed away the uncomfortable thoughts as she watched her friends get married.

* * *

The reception was held at a lovely, very expensive venue that sat on the beach, and Selina faithfully fulfilled her thrust-upon bridesmaid duties. She helped get Molly to the venue, held her train when needed, and by the time everyone was seated comfortably at their assigned tables, Selina was past the point of exhaustion.

She was laying her head on Bruce's shoulder, almost asleep when he gently rubbed her shoulder and said, "Food's here."

"Oh thank God," she said, instantly whipping her head up.

She watched Christian's best man, a guy named Aaron who happened to be his brother and the only family member in attendance, give a drunken and appropriately embarrassing toast as she inhaled her food in record speed.

"When do you think is the earliest we can leave without being rude?" Selina asked Bruce quietly, her head back on his shoulder as he ate his food at a more human pace.

"I think we're in it for the long haul," Bruce smiled, "now that you're in that dress."

She groaned. "Great."

* * *

The dance floor was full of couples dancing to Molly's questionable playlist of 80's and 90's pop music when Selina returned from a brief trip to the ladies' room. She avoided the couples and looked to the table that she and Bruce had been sitting at, but he wasn't there. She paused and looked around, then felt hands grab her from behind and spin her around.

Bruce pulled her on to the dance floor with him and slid her into his arms, grinning at the scowl on her face as he asked cheerfully, "Do you like Phil Collins?"

Selina made a face, taking a minute to listen to the song that was currently playing, and then asked, "That's Phil Collins?"

"Not up on our bad 80's hits, I take it," Bruce replied, bringing her as close to him as he could with her belly in the way, swaying her lightly.

"No... I was more into grunge as a kid," she admitted, ignoring the ache in her back and feet because she did enjoy dancing with Bruce, and they never did enough of it, in her opinion.

"Interesting," Bruce smiled. "I went through a British punk phase in high school. Drove Alfred nuts."

Selina smiled. "You've put that poor man through so much. By the way, what's your news?"

"Right, I forgot," Bruce grinned. "You go first."

"Well," Selina sighed, wrapping her arms around Bruce's neck as they danced, "Brenda's having a personal crisis and decided to resign. And she's giving me her job."

Bruce's eyes widened just a little as he grinned. "Wow. Congratulations."

She smiled back. "Yeah. I'm a little nervous, to be honest."

"Don't be," Bruce said with a slight shake of his head. "You're going to be a brilliant director."

She loved that he didn't say these things to placate her or offer obligatory encouragement - she could tell that he really believed it. "I'm going to hire Anita to replace me. Give her my salary from my promotion. She needs it a hell of a lot more than I do."

"Very generous," Bruce said. "I'm proud of you."

She looked at him a bit strangely. "Proud of me?"

"I always knew there was more to you than what you claimed," he said softly. "I hope you see that now too."

Maybe she did, maybe she didn't, she thought. Her own personal jury might be out on that for awhile. "What's your news?"

"Well, the hospital officially exists. It's got a name and everything."

Selina smiled. "And what's the name?"

Bruce looked down and then pulled out a piece of folded paper from inside his suit jacket, then said as he showed her the paper, "Helena M. Wayne Medical Center."

She looked at the paper, stating the name and official existence of the hospital, and then gave Bruce a warm smile. "Not even here yet and you're already naming your new life's work after her. She's got you wrapped around her tiny little finger."

"You both do," he murmured. Then he pulled her close and gently kissed her lips, and she melted against him, forgetting about the swell of people surrounding them.

He let his lips drift down to her neck for only a split second, but it was long enough for Selina to feel a familiar ache present itself within her. "Careful. You know what you do to me when you kiss me there."

Instead of pulling away, he moved to the other side of her neck and started peppering it with kisses, and she could feel his lips smirking as he did it. "Bastard," she breathed, closing her eyes and preparing herself for imminent frustration.

Instead, Bruce surprised her by pulling away and giving her a dark, mischievous look, then taking her hand and leading her away from the dance floor. She followed him out of the room and down a hallway, and then into an empty family restroom, the kind with extra room that rarely get used during a wedding reception with next to no kids in attendance.

He flipped the light on with an elbow and then locked the door behind them, and she laughed as he pushed her against the door and kissed her hard. "Nice one, Bruce."

He drew back and then smirked, helping her rid himself of his jacket. "Yeah."

She pulled him back to her by his tie and then it was a flurry of lips, hands and hard breaths before he picked her up and set her on the sink. It wasn't easy but she managed to angle herself in a way that allowed him to stand between her legs and pull up the skirt of her dress until it was around her waist. Then he pulled down the straps of her dress and started covering her exposed breasts with kisses, making her fist in his hair and writhe into him, the thrill of the stolen encounter working like adrenaline for both of them.

She dragged him up by his collar and brought their lips crashing together once more, reaching down between them and undoing his belt as he slipped off her panties, shifting her back against the wall behind the sink more to allow him to position himself at her entrance. He leaned down over her and kissed her just as he began to push in, and then they both froze and stared at each other with wide eyes.

On the floor around Bruce's feet was a small puddle of clear fluid, fluid that had also managed to soak the legs of his pants, and was dripping from Selina in a rather dramatic burst.

Bruce looked down at her, panting, and said, "Did... did you... is that..."

Selina closed her eyes and then reopened them slowly, sighed and said, "Yep."

"So this is it? I mean..."

"Yep."

A smile spread across Bruce's face, and she wanted to slap it off. "She's coming?"

"Yes, now can we get to the hospital, or would you rather me pop her out here?" she asked, voice laced with sarcasm.

The smile disappeared from his face, and panic and shock replaced it. "She's coming. Oh shit. Shit shit shit, _shit_."

He scrambled off of her and helped her down from the sink, cursing the whole time, pulling his pants back up and trying to help her fix her dress. He fumbled with the straps and then she slapped his hands away, he mumbled an apology, grabbed his jacket, and then they ran out of the bathroom.

At the end of the hallway, Aaron stopped them, beer in hand, and slurred, "Hey, guys! What were you doing? Molly was looking for you and -"

"Move, idiot," Selina bit out, and Aaron widened his eyes.

"Hey, hey, no need to be hostile," Aaron said, still blocking their way. "Hey, you know who you remind me of?"

They never found out, because Bruce punched him in the face and sent him crashing down to the floor. They clasped hands and then headed for the exit, passing Molly and Christian on the way.

"I punched your brother," Bruce said to Christian. "Sorry about that."

"... It's all right?" Christian replied.

"What's going on?" Molly asked, eyes wide.

"Water broke," Selina said as they rushed for the door. They didn't turn back when Molly squeaked happily and wished them good luck and told them to be careful, but they did glance at each other and grin as they made their way to the car and knew that life was about to irrevocably change.

**A/N #2: cookies for those of you who spotted the American Psycho reference! :p**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: short little note here because I'm super excited about this chapter :D thank you all for reviewing and being the amazing people that you are, and thank you midnightwings96 as always :) ok, shutting up now! Hope you guys enjoy! **

Selina was sure that she'd never seen another human being drive at such breakneck speed as Bruce did as he drove them to the hospital. He swerved through traffic and cut across lanes as she yelled at him to calm down and drive normally, but nothing curbed his panic, and they arrived at the hospital in record time.

From there, Selina was whisked to an exam room quickly, and a nurse hooked her up to a fetal heart monitor as her doctor was paged with the news. It only took Dr. Jones fifteen minutes to arrive, and once she began her exam, things happened quickly.

Bruce was sitting anxiously at Selina's beside as she tried not to squirm at the discomfort of the doctor's exam. His foot was tapping on the floor as he waited to hear the doctor's verdict, and Selina fought the urge to slap him to make him stop as the doctor raised her head, stepped back and sighed.

"Well, you definitely ruptured your bag of waters," she said in her softly accented drawl, removing her gloves and tossing them in the trash. "And as you can see from the monitor, you aren't contracting at all. So, what we'll do is start you on a pitocin drip, which will help get your contractions started. We start on the lowest dose and then slowly raise it in fifteen minute intervals. The only thing that complicates matters is that once your water breaks, we generally make sure that you deliver within 24 hours of the rupture due to the increased risk of infection. So, if by that time you haven't delivered naturally, we'll have to start talking about a C-section."

"Is that likely?" Selina asked, eyebrow raised.

"It's hard to say," Dr. Jones replied. "Right now you're only dilated to one centimeter but almost completely effaced. We'll have to see how your body responds to having labor kick-started by the pitocin."

Selina nodded, then glanced at Bruce briefly before saying, "So, um... will I get an epidural at the same time as the medicine, or..."

"Unfortunately, no," the doctor said. "Epidurals can slow progress down early in labor. I'd prefer for you to get to five centimeters before you get the epidural."

"And how long will that take?"

"We like to see one centimeter per hour, but again, we have to see how your body responds."

_Oh great_, Selina groaned silently. The doctor tapped Selina's foot and gave her a smile as she added, "Don't worry about it. We're going to take good care of you. Your daughter will be in your arms before you know it."

Selina half-smiled at the doctor as she left the room, and then she turned to Bruce with a look of dread on her face. He smiled at her and said, "Molly texted me. She's postponing the honeymoon to be here when she's born."

Selina's eyes widened. "She doesn't have to do that! No, tell her to go and enjoy herself, I don't want -"

"It's too late, she said she already changed their flight. Alfred and Leslie are on their way too."

Selina dropped her head against the bed and groaned. "Perfect. Not only do I get to either get gutted like a fish or push a human being out of me, I get to have to deal with people in my face too."

"No you don't," Bruce chuckled. "They'll be in the waiting room. And I'll only let them come in when you give the ok. You're the boss."

Selina sighed and stared forward. "What time is it?"

"Ten," Bruce said after checking his watch.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Selina soon got moved to a birthing suite, which came equipped with a baby warmer, bassinet, and a pull out couch for the father, all of which further served to make everything extremely real in Selina's mind. There was no going back after this - Helena really was coming, and she was coming no later than in the next twenty four hours.

A young, pretty nurse arrived and introduced herself as Layla, speaking with the same soft island accent as Dr. Jones, and placed an IV in Selina's forearm. She hung two bags, one with plain fluid and one with the labor-starting drug, explained that she'd be back frequently to check on her and up the dosage, and then left.

Bruce was alternating between typing on his phone, flipping through the channels on an old tv mounted at the top left corner of the room, and glancing nervously at Selina as she shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

"You okay?"

She frowned and muttered, "I thought once your water broke, that was it, it was broken and gone."

"What do you mean?"

Selina rolled her eyes. "You didn't notice how the nurse put a towel under me, I'm guessing."

"Oh."

Selina made a face and then shifted again. She thought how this continuous leaking must be one of the things nobody talks about regarding labor, and then she remembered her elderly neighbor's conversation at her baby shower - the one about barfing, pooping and tearing - and a fresh wave of anxiety rolled over her.

"Can I get you anything? A drink or something?"

Selina shook her head, staring blankly at the tv.

"Are you feeling anything yet?"

"If I was, you'd see it on the monitor."

"Is there anything you want to watch, or -"

"No," Selina snapped. "Just leave me alone."

"Okay."

There was no hurt in his tone, but Selina cringed anyway. She hadn't even had a contraction yet and she was already biting his head off.

* * *

An hour later, she was finally having some contractions, but they were still barely registering on the monitor, and she hardly felt anything. The nurse suggested she get up and walk around the hospital, as that sometimes help get things moving, and upped her pitocin drip before sending her and Bruce wandering around the corridors.

They walked up and down the maternity wing, Selina holding on to the wheeled stand upon which her medicine was hanging, Bruce occasionally putting his hand on her back or brushing her hand with his, and she found her mind racing at an even faster pace than before.

They were on their third lap when Bruce's voice interrupted her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

Selina sighed and didn't answer, staring down at her feet - or at least what little she could see of them - and then Bruce's fingers interlaced with hers.

He pressed a brief, soft kiss to her temple and then said quietly against her ear, "I'm scared too."

"Do you ever wonder what we'll tell her about us? How we'll answer her questions?" Selina paused mid-stride and dropped her voice. "What will we say? 'Yeah, honey, I met your father when I robbed him and took his fingerprints to sell them to some prick who then bankrupted him, and then I handed him over to a sadistic terrorist who nearly killed him and then left him to rot in a pit on the other side of the world. And, by the way, your dad used to dress up as a giant bat and beat up criminals every night while I wore cat ears that weren't actually cat ears and stole jewels for a living.'"

The fact that Bruce didn't smile or chuckle at her rambling told her that this was something that was bothering him as well. "What we'll tell her," he said quietly, "is who we are now. She'll know who we've become and how much we love her. And when the time is right, and when she's older, we'll tell her the truth."

"She'll hate me for what I did to you," Selina half-whispered, looking down as a couple of nurses walked past them.

Bruce shook his head. "She won't. She'll love you just as much as I do. She'll understand."

Selina sighed under her breath and started walking again. Bruce followed, and as she doubted his words as they floated around her head, she passed the other labor and delivery rooms and absently glanced inside each one. She didn't expect to hear her name being called from one of them.

She took a step back and looked inside the one that the voice had come from, and a smile crossed her lips as she recognized the small, dark girl sitting on the hospital bed, fetal monitors also strapped to her own huge belly. "You've got be kidding me."

Anita shook her head and smiled back. "I've been here since eight. Been having contractions all day and they finally got close together enough to come in."

Selina stood near the younger girl's bedside and Bruce lingered behind her, greeting Anita with a nod that she returned. "My water broke an hour ago."

"Wow," Anita said with widened eyes. "Isn't this a little early?"

"Twelve days early," Selina replied.

"I'm a week overdue," Anita chuckled. "I can't believe we ended up here on the same day."

Selina grinned. "Yeah, but it works out, because I was trying to get hold of you all day. I've got a job for you."

"A job? What do you mean?"

"I'm taking over the shelter," Selina explained. "And I want you to replace me."

"Oh," Anita replied with a quickly fading smile. "I'd love to, but -"

"I'd give you my salary," Selina Sao quickly. "I already have... too much. You need it more than me."

Anita's brown eyes got big. "How much is it? If I can ask?"

"It's not a lot, but it's enough for you and you daughter to live comfortably and have everything you need."

Anita stared at Selina for a moment before her eyes welled up with tears and she started smiling and crying at the same time. Selina went to give her a hug but stopped short when a contraction began, causing the sort of pain that she'd yet to feel until now. It encompassed her whole belly and lower back, and Bruce noticed the way her body stiffened immediately.

"You okay?" he asked, his hand on her shoulder.

She was holding her breath, the opposite of what she was supposed to do, and held it until the pain subsided. "Yeah."

She hoped that future contractions wouldn't be much worse, but her hopes were quickly dashed.

* * *

She sat on the edge of her bed and Bruce stood in front of her as she clutched his shoulders, trying to breathe through the pain. He rubbed her lower back and watched the hilly lines on the monitor, feeling her body relax as the lines sloped down and straightened at the end of each contraction.

She took a deep breath and leaned back, eyes closed as she said, "This sucks. They need to check me."

Bruce nodded and hit the call button on the bed, and in another moment, Layla entered the room.

"How are we doing?" she asked cheerfully, grabbing gloves as Selina sat further back on the bed.

"I need an epidural," Selina replied flatly. "This is hell."

Layla smiled and sat down on the side of the bed. "I'll get you one as soon as I get the ok for it, I promise."

Selina nodded and laid down, and after a quick exam, Layla straightened and said, "You're at about 3, maybe 3 and a half."

Selina closed her eyes and cursed under her breath.

"I'll up the pitocin and try to get you to five sooner, okay?"

Selina didn't answer. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost two in the morning - over four hours had now passed since she'd been admitted.

Bruce touched her hand reassuringly, and she gritted her teeth.

_Don't be a bitch,_ she told her herself as she closed her eyes. _He's just trying to help. Don't be a bitch, don't be a bitch..._

* * *

"Breathe, Selina. Breathe through it."

It was now four AM, the pain was excruciating, and she was sitting on a birthing ball beside her bed. Bruce was sitting on a stool in front of her, rubbing her upper arms as she clutched at his forearms and dug her nails into his skin. Every contraction made her belly harden into stone and pulse with pain like she'd never felt before, and that made it nearly impossible to breathe through it, so she didn't.

"Selina - you need to breathe."

She snapped her head up mid-contraction and glared furiously at him. "If you don't shut up I'm going to punch you in your stupid face, you idiot."

"I'm trying to help you, Selina."

Her grip on his arms tightened and she growled, "Stop talking, stop saying my name, _fucking_ stop it."

The contraction finally eased up, and she let go of him and turned away as far as she could manage on the ball. At first, sitting on the ball had actually been comfortable and helpful, but now all she wanted to do was hurl herself out a window and end her misery. And now that the pain was temporarily gone, she had to deal with the guilt of taking it all out on Bruce, not to mention the frustration of how nobody would get her a damn epidural even though she'd reached 4 and a half centimeters at last check.

Before she knew it, tears were spilling from her eyes, and Bruce watched her helplessly, afraid to touch her or even speak to her to comfort her.

Layla had told him when she'd come by last that the pain was as bad as it was for two reasons - one being that Selina's water was already broken, which considerably increased the intensity of the contractions, and the second reason being that pitocin had an even more intense effect on the contractions. Apparently, there was a big difference between natural contractions and ones enhanced by pitocin, and Selina was learning that the hard way.

Taking his chances, Bruce scooted forward on the stool and put his hand on her lower back. She didn't shrink away, but leaned her head on his shoulder instead.

"I don't mean to be like this but I can't help it," she said, sniffing. "You're just going to have to deal with me being a raging bitch until this kid comes out."

"That's fine," he murmured, and then she turned towards him, tensing up as another contraction hit her. She grabbed his arms again and drew blood with her nails this time.

* * *

Selina had managed to keep from becoming hysterical until now. Now she was panicking.

"I'm sorry," Layla said. "He's our only anesthesiologist on call, and he should be out of the O.R. soon, but -"

Selina sat up in bed and glared at the nurse as she said, "But he's stuck there, and you're telling me that nobody else in the entire hospital can give me an epidural."

"I'm very sorry, I am, and I will have him down here the very second that he's done."

Selina said nothing as Layla left. Then Bruce was at her side, looking at her earnestly as he said, "Look... we're going to get through this. You can do this without the drugs for now. You can. Just remember everything we learned in the classes. Breathe through it. And I'll help you walk around if you want to do that."

Selina didn't look at him. She'd worked so hard to get to where she was now, nearly 6 centimeters, and there was still no relief in sight. And she'd listened to those classes Bruce mentioned enough to know that the worst pain was still ahead of her, the kind that came between 7 and 10 centimeters.

His fingertip on her chin turned her face towards his, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "We're going to get through this."

Another contraction began, and the word "we" floated around her head over and over, repeating itself, the absurdity of this being any kind of team effort almost making her laugh.

She didn't consider how hard it might have been for Bruce to watch her be in so much pain and so much misery. The pain rendered her almost completely incapable of any thought at all, let alone reasonable ones, which allowed what happened next.

She was at the pinnacle of the contraction, barely breathing, almost about to vomit from the pain, when his hand covered hers and he spoke that one, obnoxious word - "Breathe."

Making good on her earlier promise, she punched him in the face.

* * *

By the time she was told that the anesthesiologist was on his way at last, Selina was experiencing double-peaking contractions - the kind that rarely come with natural labor, peaking once and then easing briefly before peaking yet again. It was two for the price of one, and it was as close to hell as Selina had ever been.

She was sitting on the side edge of the bed, curled around a pillow as the doctor injected her spine with a local numbing agent, already calming down just knowing that relief was on its way. She looked up at Bruce, sitting at her bedside as always, and cringed at the sight of the bruise forming around his left eye.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He half-smiled and shook his head. "I know. And it's okay."

Another needle went into her back then, and she closed her eyes at the uncomfortable sensation. A few moments later, the doctor told her she'd be feeling nearly complete relief in about fifteen minutes.

She was asleep in less than ten.

* * *

Bruce took the respite to leave the room, go to the bathroom, and then head to the waiting room to raid the vending machines there. It was six in the morning and he was exhausted, starving, and emotionally drained from watching Selina go through such intense pain for so long. He'd completely forgotten that there were four people in the waiting room, all anxious for word on how Selina was doing.

He stepped inside the maternity wing's lounge and paused at the sight of Leslie and Alfred, wide awake and visibly relieved to see him, and Molly sitting next to a sleeping Christian, wearing jeans and a t shirt but also still wearing her wedding tiara in her still-immaculately styled hair. It made him laugh.

"Oh thank God!" Molly chirped upon seeing him, before her expression turned suddenly concerned. "What happened to your face?"

He trudged to the chairs and flopped down in between Alfred and Molly, muttering, "Selina happened."

Alfred handed Bruce a paper bag. "Breakfast, sir."

"You're amazing, Alfred," Bruce said gratefully, taking the bag.

"How's she doing?" Leslie asked.

"Just got the epidural," Bruce said. "She's sleeping now."

"I'm going to go sit with her until she wakes up," Leslie said. Bruce nodded, and then she stood up and headed towards Selina's room.

"Did she punch you?" Molly asked with wide eyes.

He nodded, taking a bite of the bagel that Alfred had brought him. "I should have known better than to get that close to her right after she was told the anesthesiologist was stuck in surgery."

"Man..." Molly marveled.

Bruce shrugged, then glanced at the still-knocked out Christian as he said, "Thank you, both of you -" he glanced at Alfred as well - "for coming. You didn't have to."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, sir," Alfred replied.

"Me either," Molly smiled. "I told Christian that he could have gone home and slept but he said he wanted to stay with me. Pretty sweet, huh."

Bruce smiled. "I hope we didn't cause too much of a distraction at your wedding."

"Oh, no," Molly shrugged. "It's totally fine. Although everyone figured out that you two were hooking up in the bathroom, so pretty much everyone got a good laugh out of that."

Bruce paused and swallowed a chunk of bagel. "Fantastic."

"Not to be nosy or anything," Molly said, "but did her water break, like... during... or..."

Alfred shifted uncomfortably next to Bruce, and Bruce suppressed a laugh. "No, Molly."

"I shouldn't have asked that, I'm sorry," Molly said, glancing at Alfred.

"It's quite alright," Alfred said. "It wouldn't be the first time I've learned of things I'd rather remain ignorant of."

Bruce glanced at Alfred and furrowed his brows at the slightly reproachful look on his former butler's face. "What?"

"Nothing, sir."

Bruce narrowed his eyes. "_Alfred_."

Alfred sighed and dropped his voice low enough so that Molly couldn't hear. "As you know, I've done what I can to help Blake find his bearings as he tries to fill your shoes. One of the things I did to help after you and Miss Kyle left Gotham this last time was try to fix an issue with the security cameras in the Batcave."

Bruce listened, staring blankly at Alfred until he realized what the implications may be of what he was saying. Then his eyes widened just slightly.

"Unfortunately, Blake and I both reviewed the archived footage to see how long the problem had existed."

Bruce held up a hand to stop Alfred from continuing, suddenly unable to look Alfred in the eye. One of the best nights of his life had taken place in the Batcave last year, and it had happened so unexpectedly for him that he definitely hadn't thought to disable the security cameras or go back and erase the footage - footage of when Helena had been conceived.

Alfred leaned in to whisper one more thing. "You have no idea how hard it is for Blake to look either of you in the eye now. But he hides it quite well."

Bruce chewed on the last bit of his bagel and felt like smacking his palm into his face as hard as he possibly could. Instead he stared forward and said nothing, adding a case of horrifying embarrassment to his list of ailments.

"I hope you erased it," he finally muttered.

"Of course, sir. And I did so with my eyes closed."

"Good."

An awkward, brief silence passed, and then Alfred spoke again. "Now Blake won't even touch the BatPod."

Bruce groaned and finally smacked his face. "Alfred, enough, please."

* * *

When Selina awoke, she awoke to jarring pain covering the entire right side of her body. She opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. "Bruce?"

"He went to go eat, dear," she heard Leslie's comforting voice speak softy. "How do you feel?"

"Like hell," Selina groaned. She looked at the monitor and saw that she was in the middle of a contraction, and somehow, she could feel it perfectly clearly on her right side. It was horrible, sickening pain, and though she hadn't eaten anything since the wedding last night, she could feel something rising up in her her throat. "I can feel... ugh..."

"What?" Leslie asked, leaning forward.

"I can feel my right side," Selina said, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. "I don't understand."

"You can feel the contractions?" Leslie asked, getting up to grab a washcloth and wet it with cool water.

"Yeah..." she moaned miserably. She was overheating and she knew she was going to throw up any minute, and the pain wasn't subsiding.

Then she felt a cool washcloth being placed on her forehead, and Leslie's calming voice spoke again. "It happens with epidurals sometimes - they only take on one side of the body."

"What kind of bullshit is that," Selina muttered. "God, I'm gonna puke."

Leslie helped her up into a sitting position - despite the deficits of the epidural, she was still too numb to be able to move herself - and gave her one of the hospital's little pink half-buckets just in time for her to throw up into it. Bruce walked in just in time to witness it and freak out.

He was at her side in a flash. "Are you alright?"

"She's fine," Leslie said quickly, "it's quite normal. She might be getting close, I'll call the nurse."

Selina closed her eyes and started shivering, going from unbearably hot to freezing cold in less than a minute, mostly unaware of the flurry of activity in her room. Layla came in with another nurse behind her, and checked her quickly as Selina gripped Bruce's hand weakly.

"You're complete," Layla announced cheerfully. "I'll page Dr. Jones, and we'll get you pushing."

Selina opened her eyes and then blinked them rapidly. "What? What did she say?"

Leslie leaned in next to Bruce and laid a hand on her arm. "You're ready, darling. It's almost over. She's almost here."

Realization sunk in, and an adrenaline rush like no other that she'd ever felt before burst through her veins. Now the goal was clear, and she would soon have something to do with her body and something to work for rather than just suffer through pain indefinitely.

Soon, the point of all of this pain and suffering would be in her arms. She looked up at Bruce with suddenly much more clear, focused eyes, and let her lips stretch into a soft smile. He smiled back and gave her hand a squeeze, and no words were necessary.

* * *

Leslie offered to leave, to let them greet their daughter in private, but Selina asked her stay. The nurses broke down her bed and pulled out the stirrups that her feet would go in as Dr. Jones arrived and prepared to "catch the baby". Bruce stayed on her right side while Leslie took her left, and though she still felt everything acutely on her right side, it was somehow more bearable now that she had a renewed sense of purpose.

She could see the same purpose reflected in Bruce's eyes, and the unhidden excitement that he was projecting all around him without even realizing.

Nine months now felt more like nine weeks, and Selina's fear reached a new peak now that she was at the finish line. After this would come the scary part - the exhilarating, exciting, amazing, and completely terrifying part.

The doctor's voice roused her from her thoughts. "All right, Selina. What I'm going to have you do is grab the backs of your legs and hold on when you're pushing. When you push, you'll take a deep breath and hold it, push for ten seconds, then repeat the process two more times. Okay? Do you feel like you need to push?"

"I... sort of, I'm not sure," Selina replied.

"Okay. Well, let's try a test push. Deep breath - one, two, three..."

The pain melted away as she pushed for the first time, and for the first time since her water broke, she felt like she knew what she was doing. Her body was taking the lead, knowing what to do despite its lack of experience, and she wondered if maybe she should have trusted her body from the get-go tonight.

"Good job," Dr. Jones said. "This won't take long at all. She's right there - a few more pushes and she'll be crowning."

Selina tightened her hold on Bruce's hand, and both he and Leslie took notice when her tired legs started shaking. They each held one up for her, holding her steady and reminding her that she wasn't alone. Her thoughts flickered to Anita, who _was_ here alone, and she tapped Leslie's hand.

"What, dear?"

"Can you go get Molly to check in on Anita?" Selina asked softly. "She's here alone, a couple rooms down."

Leslie nodded and set her leg down gently. "Of course. I'll be back."

"Thank you."

Then another contraction came on, and Selina braced herself, then pushed again.

* * *

"She's got a lot of dark hair," Dr. Jones smiled as Helena reached the crowning stage. Leslie was back and Bruce looked like he was about to start jumping up and down in anticipation, and the relief stage was starting to wear off for Selina. Pushing was hard work, especially for someone already exhausted, and her whole body trembled with the effort it was taking her to keep going.

She took a break between contractions, and Bruce leaned down and gently pushed away the damp hair from her face and kissed her forehead. He still didn't say anything, and she didn't either, but when their eyes met, it was all the conversation that was necessary.

Another contraction began, and she gripped his hand as she curled up and started pushing again.

Her whole right side burned and ached, and she made a mental note to chew out the anesthesiologist for giving her a crappy epidural. But she could also feel how close Helena really was to being here, so it wasn't all in vain.

"Okay," the doctor said, flanked by two nurses and ready to catch, "make sure your next pushes are big ones. She's going to be here very very soon. Are you cutting the cord, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce's head snapped up and he quickly replied, "Yeah, I am."

Then Selina began contracting again, and she almost gasped - the pressure this time was ridiculous, and she started pushing with all of her might.

"One, two, three, four - good, Selina, very good - six, seven, eight, excellent, ten, breathe."

Selina sucked in a breath, held it, and went again.

"One, two, three - oh, she's coming fast! - five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, breathe, honey."

She knew this last push would be it, so she took a breath that was deeper than deep, looked up at Bruce, gripped his hand even harder, and pushed.

By the time the doctor got to three, she felt a sensation stranger than she could explain, and also a brand new, sharp, splitting pain, along with pressure so intense that seemed almost impossible. She didn't feel the bones in Bruce's middle finger crack underneath her grip or hear his sharp intake of breath at the sudden pain of the break, and even Bruce didn't care once the doctor stopped counting and said, "Okay, stop pushing for a minute! Her head's out, I'm just suctioning her cheeks a bit..."

Selina couldn't stop pushing - she tried but her body was acting on its own. She felt another wave of pressure and then immediate, incredible relief as she gave birth to her first child.

"Congratulations!" Dr. Jones announced happily, picking Helena up as she cried for the first time and lifting her over Selina's legs, then placing her down on her chest and into her arms. "It's definitely a girl!"

And just like that, at 10:58 AM on the morning of February 15th, two new parents found out what it was really like to fall in love at first sight.

* * *

Selina's arms and hands enclosed around her child instantly, instinctively, and she looked down with wide eyes at this little creature that she'd been carrying in her womb for the last nine months. She indeed had a head full of dark hair, and she stopped crying just long enough for Selina to get a good look at her face.

Her cheeks were deliciously fat and pink, her nose a perfect button that Selina instantly recognized as belonging to her mother, the original Helena. Then, just as she was taking in the sweet, tiny little lips just below, Helena opened her eyes, looked directly into Selina's eyes, and her heart came to a standstill in her chest.

It was like the kind of moments that she'd heard about but never experienced, the kind that leave you changed instantly and irrevocably in the blink of an eye and takes everything you thought you knew about yourself and shatters it, leaving behind a new truth that you'd never want to trade for anything. Some could call it an epiphany but it was really so much more - it was more than any single word could ever truly capture.

Helena's eyes were stunning, shaped like Selina's but colored like Bruce's, and as she felt her whole world crumble around this little person in the most beautiful destruction imaginable, Selina looked up at Bruce in wonder.

He was only a breath away from her, his hand on Helena's back as his gaze met Selina's, and she'd never forget the look in his eyes for the rest of her life. It only lasted a moment, however, because as soon as their eyes met, his face fell into an onslaught of tears and emotions that he couldn't hope to contain, and he pressed his lips first to his daughter's head, and then Selina's cheek.

"I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too," Selina choked out, his tears sending her own emotions over the edge. Helena started crying again, and Selina brought her nose to the top of her head and kissed her forehead. She'd never smelled anything like the top of her newborn's head, and it took her a moment to pinpoint what it was that made it special.

It was freedom, innocence, the very essence of being new and unblemished. She could be anything, do anything, live any life that she wanted. She'd never be forced to be anything she didn't want to be or do things that would stain her conscience, because Selina would sooner die than allow such a thing to happen, and so would Bruce.

She looked up at Bruce one more time, watched the way his tear-moistened eyes soaked in the sight of his daughter, his first child that he'd spent the last nine months anxiously awaiting, and her heart continued to swell at a rate that she never would have thought was possible. All of the fear, the doubts and the apprehension - it was all still lurking under the surface, and overcoming it would still undoubtedly be a challenge. The difference was, now she knew she could do it, and it was all thanks to that little crying baby, the gift that she didn't think she deserved but now recognized for what she was - a chance to finally get something right, from the beginning, and to love and protect her the way she and Bruce's mothers would have if they hadn't died too young. Helena could be her redemption.

Maybe, sometimes, accidents could be some of the best things that ever happened to you.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: so sorry for the delay in this update. Got stuck at a part of this chapter and then got sick with a weird flu thing, so that delayed things even more. On top of that, this isn't a very long chapter compared to others, so I apologize for that as well, but further updates should come sooner and will hopefully be their normal length. Anyway, thank you guys so much for your wonderful reviews, they so make my day, and I love you all! :D **

Bruce's hands shook as he cut Helena's cord, having been temporarily reduced to a puddle of exhilaration and happiness that he never could have prepared himself for. After so much anticipation in the last nine months, it was surreal to see the little girl, the baby who he'd only had glimpses of in sonograms until now. But now she was here, wailing in Selina's arms, and as he severed the last tie to Selina's womb, he could hardly believe that he was lucky enough to be living this moment, this life, right now.

Layla, the nurse who had taken care of Selina throughout her whole labor, gently leaned close to Selina and said, "We've got to clean her up and weigh her and check a few more things. I'll bring her back as soon as I can, I promise."

Bruce saw the reluctance in Selina's eyes but they both knew they didn't have a choice. Layla scooped the baby up and took her to the warmer, which doubled as a scale, and she and another nurse went to work cleaning her up fully and checking her heart and lungs again.

Leslie, on Selina's other side, placed a hand upon Selina's and said softly, "You did so good. Congratulations. She's so beautiful."

Selina smiled up at the older woman and then turned back to Bruce just as Layla called out, "Eight pounds, twelve ounces!"

Selina dropped her head back on her pillow and said breathlessly, "Jesus."

Bruce laughed, impressed that she'd pushed out such a chunky little baby. Then the nearly forgotten Dr. Jones said, "I believe it. I'm only halfway through your stitches."

Bruce glanced down and sure enough, the doctor was still at the foot of the bed, deep in concentration as she sewed Selina up. The placenta had been delivered without either Bruce or Selina even noticing.

"Great," Selina groaned, unsure and fearful of what recovery would be like. Leslie got up and started snapping pictures of Helena with a small digital camera, since Bruce still wasn't coherent enough to think about pictures right now, and he took the opportunity to kiss Selina one more time.

"I can't believe she's here," he said softy, kissing her cheek. Her arm, laden with three hospital bracelets and her IV, rose up and her hand found his hair, holding him close to her.

"She's gorgeous," Selina half-whispered.

"She has your eyes."

Selina shook her head. "They're hazel, Bruce. She has my shape and your color."

He honestly hadn't noticed - Helena's eyes had looked brown to him, identical to Selina's in every way. He thought about that, how such a feature could be a perfect mix of her parents, and Bruce looked at Selina and murmured, "She's the best thing we've ever done."

Selina smiled, knowing that's quite a thing for a man to say when he'd once saved a city from a nuclear bomb. She kissed his lips lightly, then looked up as Layla brought Helena back to her.

"All done," the nurse smiled, placing the baby back into Selina's arms. "She's doing great."

Selina smiled as she held her daughter once more, now bundled up in hospital blankets printed with pink and blue footprints and wearing a similarly pink and blue hat. She had some antibiotic ointment in her eyes that made her blink a bit rapidly, but she still managed to make eye contact with Selina once more.

"God," Bruce babbled happily, "she's so beautiful."

Immediately upon hearing his voice, Helena's gaze shifted, and her head turned in Bruce's direction. Selina smiled and looked up at Bruce, who looked suddenly dumbfounded, and she said, "Looks like all that talking to my belly paid off."

Then she gently shifted Helena - carefully, because she still had no idea how to safely hold a baby, going completely on instinct at this point - and said, "Here, Daddy."

And in the one second it took for Bruce to hold out his arms for to take his baby, he felt a rush of so many different emotions that it left him dizzy and feeling oddly young and clueless. For everything he'd been through in his life and all of the over-education he'd fed his brilliant mind since a young age, this moment took him back to square one of it all and re-shaped everything. The perspective that he would now see through for the rest of his life would be like no other he'd held before.

Helena's eyes blinked as he nestled her into his hold, her head supported at the crook of his arm. Her hands were in tiny little fists near her face and her eyes closed as she seemed to get comfortable very fast, and Bruce decided to test her response to his voice to see if the last had been a fluke.

"Helena..."

Her eyes popped open and fixed onto his gaze, and he couldn't stop the broad smile that appeared on his face. He saw now that her eyes were in fact the same color of his own, encased beautifully within Selina's

shape. He looked up just long enough to see Selina smiling at them just as warmly, and then lowered his head to kiss Helena's ridiculously fat cheek.

He was beyond being wrapped around her finger. He was hopelessly, irrevocably, and eternally hooked, and he'd never been so happy to be alive.

* * *

It took awhile to get her stitches done and finally get some privacy, but when the room had mostly emptied - Leslie went out to tell everyone the news, and Layla was the only nurse left behind - and Helena was back in Selina's arms, she looked at Bruce and furrowed her brows at the way his left middle finger was sort of dangling from his hand.

"Bruce - what's wrong with your finger?"

He looked down at his hand and then did a double take, eyes widening as he suddenly remembered. "Oh, yeah - you, uh... you broke my finger," he said with a smile.

"I broke your finger?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah... honestly I forgot all about it until now." Adrenaline was a wonderful painkiller.

Layla, who had been cleaning up the room, overheard and smiled at Bruce as she said, "I'll get that taken care of for you in a minute."

"Thanks," he grinned, looking back to Selina as she looked down at Helena in confusion.

Helena was squirming, rubbing her mouth on Selina's skin under her collarbone, turning her face back and forth, seemingly in search of something. "What's she doing?"

Layla walked over and looked down at the child, then said, "Oh, she's rooting. Looks like she's hungry."

"'Rooting'?" Selina repeated in confusion.

"It's what babies do when they're ready to eat for the first time. Were you planning on breastfeeding?"

Selina had never decided, to be honest. "Um..."

"Well, it looks like she was," Layla smiled. "Here, I'll help you."

Layla stepped closer and unbuttoned part of Selina's hospital gown, pulling it down over her chest and then gently helping Selina reposition Helena. She wasn't at Selina's breast longer than a second before she latched on, without any further assistance.

"Ouch," Selina winced. It felt just as odd as she'd imagined, but she hadn't been expecting pain. "Is this supposed to hurt?"

"Oh yeah," Layla nodded. "It'll hurt for a couple of weeks while your nipples toughen up and get used to it."

Helena suckled away like a champ while Selina gritted her teeth and Bruce watched with a look of fascination and concern. "Is she even getting anything?" Selina asked.

"She is. Your regular milk won't come in for a few days, but right now she's getting what she needs. And she'll want to feed a lot, so he prepared. Every one and a half to three hours is normal."

"But how will I know she's hungry?" Selina asked somewhat desperately. She knew nothing of any of this stuff.

"Oh, you'll know," Layla chuckled. "She'll cry. I'll get you a book we have for new moms about breastfeeding. It'll explain everything. I'll be right back with that splint for your husband."

The word "husband" went over both Bruce and Selina's head until the nurse had left the room. Selina looked over at Bruce, sitting faithfully at her bedside, and she knew what his soft but intent gaze meant. He'd practically worshipped her at every stage of pregnancy, and the more pregnant she got, the more transfixed he'd become. Now he was looking at her like she was a goddess.

She shook her head at him. "You're wishing you had your camera right now, aren't you."

"I'll make up for it later," he smiled. "This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

She looked down at her baby, her eyes closed contentedly as her tiny mouth suckled and found comfort, and she was relieved by the bond that she already felt with Helena. She'd been so scared of feeling nothing, of there being something wrong with herself that would ruin everything, and now she saw how irrational that fear had been.

"When she's done, and after the nurse looks at your finger," Selina said quietly, "you can bring in Alfred to see her."

Bruce nodded, the thought of Alfred holding his first child warming him incredibly. "Okay."

* * *

Once Bruce's finger had been taken care of and Layla brought Selina a much-needed, very late breakfast, Bruce brought Alfred and Leslie inside the room and watched with his hands in his pockets as his former butler laid eyes upon Helena for the first time.

Selina smiled up at the two men as she handed Helena to Bruce, and then Bruce cradled Helena gently for one brief moment before placing her in Alfred's waiting arms. Helena was full and sleepy now, not opening her eyes once as she'd passed from person to person, and she continued not to stir as Alfred held her close and let his eyes soak up the sight of a child who was, for all intents and purposes, his granddaughter.

Selina stuck a French fry in her mouth and shared a smile with Leslie as the older woman served as photographer again, and she wondered if this was what having family felt like. She thought of Molly, still waiting patiently for her turn to meet Helena, and Anita, who had probably given birth herself by now, and for the first time in her life, she didn't feel bitter for the lack of her parents. She wasn't alone in the world anymore, and hadn't been since Bruce had invaded her life in Italy the previous year, but now she even had a couple of friends and two older folks who suddenly seemed completely irreplaceable in her life. And at the center of all of that newfound companionship and love was Helena, and Selina felt so completely full and bursting inside that she couldn't control the tears that started rolling down her cheeks.

Bruce noticed this, looking up from his own emotional moment and furrowing his brows in concern when he saw her crying. "Are you okay, Selina?"

She nodded and wiped at her eyes, quickly replying, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I don't really know why I'm crying, actually."

"You know those pregnancy hormones?" Leslie smiled, lowering her camera for a moment. "Some of them are dropping and some are increasing right now. It'll take awhile for everything to even out."

"Joy," Selina muttered, but she was smiling through her flat tone. She looked at Bruce and he returned her smile, his own eyes starting to glisten again, and Selina thought about making a joke about how blessedly ridiculous it felt for the two of them to be so openly and overly emotional, but she thought better of it when Alfred placed Helena back into Bruce's arms and whispered something to him that Selina couldn't hear.

Then Alfred turned to Selina and, to her surprise, leaned down and hugged her. She returned it as best she could, still having an IV in her arm and not being prepared to be embraced, but she soon learned the reasoning behind his hug when she heard his whisper.

"Thank you. For everything."

He drew back and gave her a significant look, and no further words were necessary. She nodded, knowing that his thanks encompassed many things but mostly the fact that he considered her to have saved Bruce's life several times over.

It wasn't long before the older couple had given them their privacy once more, leaving Selina to stuff her face with the rest of her meal as Bruce held their daughter in the chair next to her bed.

"What did he say to you?" Selina asked. "You don't have to say if you don't want."

Bruce shook his head slightly, tearing his gaze off of Helena long enough to reply, "He said he was proud of me. And that my parents would be proud of me."

In that moment, as she heard the rawness and emotion in his voice, Selina came to understand Bruce in a way she never had before. It suddenly hit her how much his parents had defined his existence, and how the burning desire to live up to their legacy had driven him to make the choices and sacrifices that he had. It always came back to them, always came back to his need to be worthy of their name and the love that he'd been deprived of since they'd been murdered in front of him.

And now here he was, building a hospital that would serve people in need in the same ways that his father had as a doctor, holding his own child, an extension of the Wayne family that he'd never dared to hope for until she'd already come into existence, and Selina suddenly felt as proud of him as Alfred did.

Bruce looked up at Selina, a sudden fierceness in his eyes, and he said, "I'll die before I let anyone hurt her."

Selina nodded. "You know I will too."

* * *

When Molly and Christian were on their way to meet Helena for the first time, Bruce set the baby back into Selina's arms and pulled out his phone to take a quick picture of her round, chubby little face.

"Who's that for?" Selina asked after he clicked the camera back off, then started typing on the screen.

"My other legacy," Bruce replied, hitting the send button.

Helena then stirred and stretched out her legs into the mass off blankets swaddling her, and made a cooing noise that made both of her parents stare at her and start grinning stupidly.

"Holy crap, that was cute," Selina chuckled.

Then there was a soft knock at the door, and then Molly poked her head inside. "Leslie said we could come in?"

Bruce sank back into his chair and nodded. "Yeah, come on in."

Wearing a huge smile of anticipation, Molly walked in first, Christian trailing behind her, and held her hands over her mouth to keep from squealing when she got to Selina's bed and saw Helena for the first time.

"Oh... my... God! Oh, look at her! Chris, look at her! She's so fat! She's got the biggest cheeks I've ever seen!" Molly babbled, blue eyes huge as she fawned over the baby. "And look at her hair!"

Selina smiled and gave a slight roll of her eyes as she said, "Here, take her. I know you're dying to hold her."

Molly's fawning reached new heights as she took Helena in her arms, and a fresh wave of babbling began. "My God... seriously, Selina," she smiled, looking up briefly to Selina, "she is going to be... _ridiculously_ gorgeous when she grows up. She's even more beautiful than I'd expected. Gosh - has there ever been a better looking family? I mean _look_ at you guys!"

Behind her, Christian reached a hand down to Bruce and grinned. "Congrats, man."

Bruce smiled and shook his hand. "Thanks. Sorry about the timing, with your honeymoon and all."

Christian shrugged. "Ah, no worries. Aspen will still be there a week from now. Though you two did make quite an impression at the reception."

"Yeah, sorry about your brother," Bruce said, just now remembering that he'd punched someone in the mad rush to the hospital.

"Aaron? Oh, don't be sorry about that. Had to deck him myself because he couldn't keep his bloody hands off one of Molly's bridesmaids," Christian replied nonchalantly. "I've had to deck him a lot over the years. We were born in London but he drinks like he was born in Dublin."

Meanwhile, while Molly was gently rocking Helena in her arms, the blonde's eyes suddenly widened and shot up to Selina's as she gasped, "Oh! I have to tell you about Anita! Leslie told me you wanted me to go check on her so I did, and when I got to her room, her baby was literally crowning. I got to see her being born."

"Really?" Selina smiled, pleased that Anita hadn't been alone after all.

"Yep," Molly grinned widely. "Got to hold her and everything. And they're both doing great. Anita did it without drugs, by the way."

Selina's eyes widened and she let out a breathless laugh. "Well, God bless her. My epidural didn't work so I halfway went natural too. What did she name her?"

Molly smiled even more broadly at this and closed her eyes as she said, "Can't tell you. It's a surprise."

"A surprise?"

"Yep. I've been sworn to secrecy." Then Helena cooed again, and Molly's eyes widened to comical proportions. "Okay, I'm dead. That was the cutest thing I've ever heard. Christian?"

Christian looked up from his conversation with Bruce and said, "Yes, love?"

"We're making a baby, like, tonight."

"Of course, love."

"I'm serious. I officially have a raging case of baby fever."

Christian smiled and then turned back to Bruce, mouthing a sarcastic "thanks".

* * *

Meanwhile, a continent away, John Blake awoke face-down on his bed to the sound of his phone ding-donging on his nightstand a few inches away, and reluctantly, he dragged an arm up to grab the phone.

Blinking fast to clear his eyes so that he could see the screen in front of him, he then squinted and deciphered the number that had texted him to be one of the few that he'd never ignore. He unlocked the phone and then found himself looking at a picture of the fattest-cheeked baby he'd ever seen. Underneath the picture read simply, Helena Martha.

Blake looked back up at the picture and grinned just before he felt the body next to him stir, and a moment later, there were soft lips on his shoulder and an equally groggy voice asking, "Why are you looking at a picture of a baby on your phone?"

Still staring at the picture, Blake replied, "Friend of mine just had a baby."

"I didn't know you had friends."

He snorted and set the phone back down on the nightstand, shifting to his side to face her. Raven smiled up at him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, brushing her black curls back behind her ear and settling his head back down on his pillow. "Well, I'm full of surprises, I guess."

"It's not even noon," Raven groaned, closing her eyes and snuggling against his chest. On her days off from working as an engineer for Wayne Enterprises, she tended to adopt Blake's nocturnal sleeping schedule, and today, they hadn't fallen asleep until six in the morning. He hadn't come home from his nightly crime-fighting exploits until three, and neither of them had been much interested in sleeping for the next few hours.

"I know," he replied. "Go back to sleep. I'll ignore my phone if it goes off again."

"No you won't," she yawned. "The picture came from that foreign number you won't save under a name in your contacts. You act like it's the president calling every time that number pops up."

Blake furrowed his brows, silently chastising himself for being so apparently obvious.

"I'm assuming it's Batman's number," she said, closing her eyes.

He looked down at her blankly, and she continued, "I get why you won't tell me about it, because he's supposed to be dead and all, so I'm not going to force you to. But I'm right, aren't I?"

There wasn't much point in denying it. Since they'd gotten back together, he'd been completely open with her, even showing her the cave he'd inherited and letting her tweak his suit and add some extra features she thought would be helpful. She knew he'd inherited a lot from Batman, and she was quite good at connecting the dots. She even had a few theories as to who the Batman might have been underneath the cowl, but she kept those to herself.

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

"Tell him I said hi," she said before drifting off to sleep. "And congratulations."

He smirked to himself, waiting until he knew she was asleep to grab his phone and do exactly as she suggested.

* * *

Natural labor afforded one very few luxuries, but one of them was the ability to get up and out of bed immediately after birth, which made the still-immobile Selina quite jealous as Anita was wheeled into her room and brought to her bedside.

Bruce was napping in his chair as the two women swapped babies and got to talking, and it almost distracted Selina enough to forget to ask what the big secret was about Anita's child's name.

"So what's her name?" she asked, cradling the little girl, smiling when she sneezed suddenly.

"Kylie," Anita replied, looking up from Helena with a smile.

"Kylie," Selina repeated, thinking nothing of it for a very brief moment. "Kylie... Kyle." She looked up at Anita, looking almost incredulous. "Anita..."

The younger girl held up a hand to shush her. "Don't even. You know you changed my life."

Selina felt a twinge of guilt at this extremely unexpected honor of having a baby named after her. Anita only knew Selina as she was now, not as who she was, and she knew nothing of who she'd been before coming to the islands to start over. Even Molly knew more of Selina's backstory than Anita did. Selina doubted anyone would want to name a goldfish after her if they knew the whole story.

"I know we haven't known each other long," Anita said, "but you've done more to help me than pretty much anyone I've ever known. I mean, I know I was a joke at the shelter. I was the idiot who kept running back to my abuser even after he almost made me lose my baby. I know what they said about me. But you didn't look at me the way the others did. You've always seemed to... understand better than they did."

Selina pursed her lips. She certainly did understand what it was like to feel as if you had no choice but to stay with an abuser, just to stay alive. The vivid memory of that feeling was what kept her going at the shelter.

"And I wouldn't be here if not for our talks and the way you encouraged me," Anita added, smiling weakly. "So there's nobody I'd rather name her after."

She didn't know if it was the damn hormones continuing to wreak havoc, but between those and her exhaustion and heightened emotions, Selina found herself shedding another tear.

Life was just full of pleasant surprises these days, and the cynical, eternally wary side of her was expecting the sky to fall any day and brutally crush the astounding amount of happiness that she'd achieved.

She looked down at Kylie, born on the same day as Helena, and as thoughts danced in her head of the two little girls growing up together and running around on the beach, having the kind of lives and childhoods that their mothers could have only dreamed of at such young ages, Selina drew in a deep breath and let it go with a contented sigh.

Maybe the walls weren't going to close in, after all. Maybe, if she was luckier than she could have ever believed was possible, disaster wasn't lurking around the corner anymore, just waiting to strike and take it all away.

She and Anita traded babies once more, and as Helena opened her eyes and started "rooting" again, letting Selina know that she was hungry once again, she felt her emotions steel themselves into a fierce protectiveness that nearly took her breath away.

No, life would never be perfect, and the sky wouldn't always be clear, and disaster really would always be lurking somewhere. She knew that. But now, she also knew that no matter what, as long as she had this precious little creature in her arms and Bruce at her side, nothing could ever really be that bad. Nothing could take her back to where she began.

And that might have been the single happiest thought she'd ever had in her life.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed/faved/followed/silently read (lol) this story! I don't intend for updates to take as long as they are (it feels like its been forever since the last update) but, I've been busy and distracted, so my apologies :) thanks as always to midnightwings96, whose help and motivation I greatly value :D I have quite a bit planned for the next few chapters, including something that can be only described as an epic lemon, and I'm excited! Anyway. I hope everyone likes, thank you all again! :D**

Selina stared blankly at Dr. Jones, letting her nonchalantly-spoken words rattle around in her brain until they settled down and the reality of them finally hit her.

"Six weeks?" Selina repeated, and her doctor smiled and nodded. Why in the world was she smiling? This was _horrible_ news!

Selina looked over at Bruce, sitting at his usual place at her bedside, holding his daughter and totally lost in her, oblivious to the devastating news. He was smiling broadly and running his finger down Helena's ridiculously plump cheeks, staring into her open, alert eyes, cooing - actually cooing - to her. He was so freaking adorable that Selina wanted to throw him down and have her way with him then and there, and yet now she finds out she's supposed to be celibate for _six weeks_ while she recovers from childbirth?

Dr. Jones handed Selina the rest of her discharge instructions and explained, "Six weeks is the standard amount of time we tell patients to wait. Sometimes we'll cut it down to three weeks if there were no complications, but you tore pretty good, Miss Kyle. You don't want to open those stitches."

Selina grimaced and nodded in resignation. She was in a decent amount of discomfort from the aforementioned stitches, and she'd known she was going to have to take it easy for awhile, but six weeks seemed... excessive. She was pretty sure the longest that she and Bruce had gone without it since they'd been together was two weeks, and that had felt like two months.

"At your six week checkup, we'll make sure everything's healed properly and get you started on whatever birth control you're interested in," Dr. Jones said reassuringly. "I'm sure it seems like a long time now, but the weeks are going to fly by, and you won't really be tempted once the exhaustion's hit you."

Selina snorted. Maybe that was true for most couples, but she and Bruce were not most couples. "Great."

The doctor patted her shoulder and smiled. "The first two weeks are the hardest. Once you've got a routine down, things will get a lot easier. How's the nursing going?"

"Fine, I guess," Selina shrugged. "Still hurts."

"Milk come in yet?"

Selina shook her head.

"Well then it should either today or tomorrow. And be prepared for it to hurt. They swell up like balloons and get as hard as rocks."

As Selina dreaded this odd thing that would be happening to her body soon, she glanced again at Bruce and found that not even the mention of "rock hard balloons" had stolen his attention from his daughter. Maybe he would deal with the six week-ban much better than Selina would.

She took a deep breath. They'd he home within the hour. That's when the real adventure would begin.

* * *

They'd barely slept at all during Selina's two and a half-day stay in the hospital, but it hadn't caught up to them yet. They were far too paranoid to let Helena stay in the hospital's nursery while they slept, so what few naps they did get were courtesy of Alfred and his insistence that they let him keep an eye on the baby and get a few bloody minutes of sleep.

But the newness of it all kept them going. Bruce changed Helena's first diaper - Selina had been impressed by his lack of qualms about it - and they'd both watched in fascination as a nurse taught them how to properly bathe the child. For her part, Helena so far had only cried when she was hungry - which was usually once an hour - or sitting in a diaper that needed to be changed. Otherwise, she snoozed, waking for not much longer than an hour total a day, but when she was awake, they soaked up every moment of it.

They got used to a certain routine at the hospital, and now having to go home brought a fresh, new wave of anxiety over both mother and father, but they did their best not to let it show.

When they did finally get home, walking through the front door of their luxurious beach house as a family of three for the first time, the first thing that struck Selina was the amount of food lining the counters in the kitchen. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen and glanced to Bruce, who was toting a very asleep Helena in her car seat, and then set down her hospital bag on the floor with a quizzical look.

"That's all Alfred," Bruce smiled. "Molly left some stuff too. They both made us enough meals to last a couple of weeks."

She looked again into the kitchen, saw baskets of muffins on the table, fresh fruit everywhere, and she could only imagine what was inside the refrigerator.

It was too much. Bruce saw the tears welling up in her eyes before she felt them, and she wanted to curse at herself - wasn't childbirth supposed to signal the end of crazy hormones? Was nine months of more crying than she'd done in her entire life not enough?

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked gently, reaching out to her.

"Nothing," she shook her head, avoiding his touch and heading back down the hallway. "Let's take her to her room."

The first thing they did when they got to Helena's nursery was change her clothes, which was a nerve-wracking experience. Bruce started out the process but became too anxious about hurting her somehow, and Selina took over from there. She found the hardest part to be getting the pink and purple onesie she'd chosen over Helena's head, not because she had an overly large head - she didn't - but because like Bruce, she was irrationally afraid that it would somehow hurt her. She seemed so tiny and breakable, like just the slightest slip of fabric could leave her bruised.

Once that was over, Selina wrapped Helena in a fuzzy pink blanket the way that the nurses had taught her to, and placed her in the white, lace-trimmed bassinet that sat next to the crib in the nursery. Helena snoozed through it all, and as she slept soundly in the comfort of her new bed, Bruce and Selina fidgeted as they watched her.

They stared down at the sleeping child for a good couple of minutes before Selina broke the silence. "Do you think that... maybe... we could move her into..."

"Our room?" Bruce supplied eagerly.

Selina sighed in relief. "Yes. I don't want to leave her in here alone."

"Thank God," Bruce grinned, also relieved. He then took the bassinet and wheeled it gently into the next room, their bedroom, and placed it next to their bed. The top of the bassinet was level with their mattress, and they both felt instantly better about the set-up. Selina hadn't been expecting that, but after all, Helena had been inside of her for nine months, and it was only natural that she'd want to keep her close for awhile longer, she reasoned.

Now that they were back inside of their own bedroom, the exhaustion began creeping up on both of them. Selina sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes while Bruce quickly did the same thing.

"You want something to eat?" Bruce offered as Selina yawned and scooted back on the bed.

She shook her head. "No. I think I might want a nap."

A nap sounded glorious to Bruce, and within another moment they were under the sheets and half-in each other's arms, closing their eyes in relief at the comfort of their bed. It had never felt more comfortable.

Bruce's eyes fluttered open, however, when Selina pressed her back to his chest and held his arm around her waist. She was almost asleep already, but he had a question on the tip of his tongue. "Why were you crying downstairs?"

Her tired eyes opened slowly, and she hesitated to answer. "I'm not... used to things like that. I'll never be used to having people do things for me or... care. You wouldn't understand."

He didn't bother denying it. "Maybe not. But you deserve it. You deserve... family. And now you have one that nobody can take away from you."

She wanted to curse again - her eyes were watering instantly at his words. But how could she not get emotional? She really did have a family of her own now, and a small but incredibly significant network of people around her who cared enough to cook for her, postpone honeymoons to meet her child, and even name their own children after her. She didn't deserve it. She'd never even dared to wish for such a thing. But now it was hers.

Bruce saw the tear rolling down from the outer corner of her eye and gently wiped it away with his thumb, leaving a soft kiss on her cheek afterwards. He knew she wasn't crying out of sadness, and it took a lot to hold himself together and not cry right with her. All of this really was a miracle, and neither of them had any idea how they'd gotten so lucky.

The moments passed without any further words, and eventually their eyes closed again. Slumber found them exactly five minutes before it left Helena, and thus began the death of sleep.

* * *

Sleep for a bit, cry, wake up, diaper change, feeding, sleep for a bit, repeat. On paper, it sounded relatively doable. In practice, it was more tiring than running across rooftops in five inch heels all night without a break.

The whole first day home passed in a blur of unsatisfying naps and fumbling attempts at decent childcare that came to fit the definition of on-the-job training. In the middle of the night, Selina tried to put a diaper on Helena backwards, and took a full few minutes to figure out her mistake. She then fed the baby and got her back into her bassinet before passing out again, and when she woke up half an hour later, it was to throbbing pain in both of her breasts and a soaked shirt.

She cursed as Bruce woke up, dragging his head up and off his pillow as he squinted at the sight of Selina tearing off her shirt. "What's wrong?"

"Stupid milk," Selina muttered, rubbing the tops of her swollen breasts and wincing at the pain. They really were hard as rock now - how was she supposed to lug these things around all day, let alone sleep despite them?

She glanced over at Bruce and found him already back asleep. She sighed in irritation but quickly let it go, laid back down, and tried to get comfortable once again.

When she finally succeeded in falling back asleep again, Helena was awake and crying again within the next ten minutes.

Bruce would wake up for a few moments and help with whatever he could, but mostly, Selina let him sleep, since there was only so much he could do while she was nursing anyway. She let him change a few diapers - Helena seemed to go through at least one every two hours - and let him hold her while she made a few trips to the bathroom in the course of the night. Then she would try to sleep while Helena slept, but she found herself too wired and far too aware to get very far. She would lay there, watching Helena's little chest rise and fall with her breaths, get nervous when there would be a seemingly-long pause between them, and get angry when she heard Bruce snoring next to her.

She knew she shouldn't begrudge the man a few hours of sleep - he'd slept just as little as she had during their hospital stay, and he did awaken every time Helena cried and would ask what he could do to help. But it was hard to not get annoyed when she couldn't sleep longer than a few moments at a time herself.

By the time the first morning at home rolled around, Selina was half-convinced to switch Helena on to formula and make Bruce take shifts with her if every night would be like the last.

* * *

That first morning, Selina left Helena in Bruce's arms after he'd heated up one of their pre-made breakfasts and took refuge in the bathroom, hoping to get herself together and ready to take on the day. Instead, she took one look at her reflection and nearly had a fit.

Her hair was horribly tangled and half-unravelled from its ponytail, and her lack of a shirt revealed a barely-deflated belly that drew her ire more than anything else. She still looked quite pregnant, except her belly now had a looser look about it - which wasn't an improvement. Stretch marks abounded, of course, but they somehow looked worse when taken into account with her belly. Her eyes were already surrounded by dark circles, and her pregnancy-induced mild acne was still spattered across her forehead, but it was the belly that she kept glaring at.

Before, it was bearable being enormous because there was a reason for it. Now that Helena was earthside, the sight of herself was a jolt that she didn't want, and she suddenly felt too self-conscious to wear just a bra around Bruce.

Oh _sure_, she thought, he'd tell her she was beautiful no matter what, and she knew that he would mean it. But he was a man and no man preferred a woman in this state, right? If they were being honest, anyway.

She then made a decision. She had six weeks until they were cleared for sex, so in that time, she'd spend every free moment in their gym room and attempt to get back into shape in record time. She did vaguely recall the doctor telling her to wait a few weeks for heavy exercise, but she shrugged it off - she'd be fine. And getting started as soon as possible would be best for her mental health.

After cleaning up and splashing some water in her face to wake up some more, Selina left the bathroom and crept quietly into the bedroom, finding Bruce sitting up against the headboard as Helena slept in his arms. She couldn't help but smile a little bit at the sweet expression on his face as she quickly shrugged into a shirt from her dresser.

When she got back into bed, Bruce smiled at her and said quietly, "It's nice to be home with her."

Selina yawned and nodded. "Yeah."

"You okay?"

She halfway wanted to slap him upside his enviously well-rested-looking face in response, but settled on nodding again. "Fine. Just tired."

"You know," Bruce said, "you can pump a little if you want and I can feed her a few times a night. Take turns or something."

The urge to slap him quickly dissipated. This was why she loved Bruce Wayne. "That would be amazing. Do I even have a pump, though?"

"Yeah," Bruce half-grinned. "I sort of had a last-minute panic-fest and bought half of Babies R Us online the other day. I bought a lot. Anything that looked like it could be important or good to have. Shipping cost more than the actual items. A lot of it's in the basement but the pump I got is in the closet."

Selina smiled despite herself, imagining Bruce sitting in front of his laptop, scrolling through Babies R Us's website and having no idea what hardly any of the items were but frantically hitting "add to cart" on everything anyway. "What would I do without you?"

He grinned and then quickly moved his attention to Helena, who began to stir in his arms. A cry came a moment later, and Selina held out her arms with a sigh.

As expected, the issue was hunger, so Selina pulled up her shirt and popped out a breast - awkwardly, since she had yet to buy a proper nursing bra - and Helena latched on happily. Selina then self-consciously pulled up the bed sheet so that it covered her belly, because she could feel Bruce's eyes on her, and after a moment, she turned her gaze on him and indeed found him staring.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he quickly smiled and shook his head. "Sorry. It's just... beautiful."

He was looking at her in that reverent way he did when they first found out that she was pregnant, like it was a privilege just to look upon her. It felt a bit too intense, so she tried to crack a joke. "Sure it's not just the giant boobs?"

His eyes flickered to her chest and he chuckled. "Those are officially ridiculous."

She laughed. "I know, they're like comic book-heroine boobs. Except I'm pretty sure Wonder Woman's don't leak."

He laughed with her and rubbed the top Helena's head through her pink cap as she suckled away. "I'm not complaining."

Selina gave him a sideways glance and said, "You know we're forbidden to have sex for six weeks. Doctor's orders."

Bruce looked up at her, poker face on, and repeated, "Six weeks?"

She nodded. "The joy of tearing and stitches, apparently."

"It's because of the stitches?"

"Yeah. Otherwise we could probably get away with three weeks or so."

Selina glanced down at Helena then, and found her already asleep at the breast. Were babies really supposed to sleep this much?

Bruce took in a deep breath. "Well. Okay then."

Selina snorted at Bruce's reaction and then gently laid Helena down between them in the bed, and they both leaned in close to the child, propped up on their elbows. Helena stirred just a little bit, and her tiny hand wrapped around Selina's index finger as Bruce gently rubbed her cheek with his finger.

All was silent for a moment, and Selina was considering going back to sleep until Bruce's voice softly interrupted her thoughts. "I want to have a christening."

Selina blinked and looked up at him, her brows furrowed slightly. "Really? Are you even Catholic?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, my parents took me to a non-denominational church when I was little. But aren't you Catholic?"

"Vaguely," Selina shrugged. "I mean, my mom was." She arched a brow. "Wait - how did you know?"

Bruce grinned a little sheepishly. "I have my ways. I did my research on you when you stole the pearls from me."

"Right," Selina drawled. "And look where that got you."

Bruce grinned and shrugged again. "Mostly I just want everyone to meet her. Fox, Blake, Gordon."

She understood that. And she wanted it for him. Those guys were all part of Bruce's family, blood be damned. "You'll have to pick a godfather."

Bruce only had to think for a second or two before he answered. "Blake."

"Really? Not Alfred?"

"Alfred's more than a godfather," Bruce replied softly. "And I'm pretty sure godfathers are supposed to be young."

"True," Selina replied. "Okay. He'll get a thrill out of that."

Bruce smiled. "Yeah. You don't mind doing this? The christening?"

She shook her head, looking down at Helena. "No. I think it'll be sweet. And I want everyone to meet her too."

"For my sake or for yours?"

Selina eyed him. "Is there really a difference?"

Bruce paused briefly before replying. "Careful. Talking like that with our baby lying between us makes it sound like you're committed. Maybe committed enough for -"

"Finish that sentence and you'll spend the next week on night duty with her," Selina swiftly retorted.

Bruce grinned. He knew better than to bring up marriage when Selina was sleep deprived and adjusting to the arrival of her first child, but he hadn't been able to resist. "Go to sleep for a bit. I'll watch her."

"Thank you," she breathed, dropping her head to her pillow.

* * *

One of Bruce's last minute panicked purchases was a comprehensive over 500-page book on the proper care of babies, and over the next two days, they ended up consulting the book a lot. They also bugged Alfred with common new-parent questions about how often a baby should poop - it seemed like entirely too much - and if it was normal for Helena to want to feed every half hour for three hours straight. To Selina's surprise, Alfred kept his distance - he told them that he was there if they needed him, but that the first week of Helena's life should belong to her parents alone. It wasn't easy for the old man to stay away from the little girl that he already loved dearly, and they knew it, but it was a gift to them that he knew they'd thank him for later. He knew all too well how quickly babies grew into children and children grew into adults, and those first precious days of a baby's life were irreplaceable.

Naturally, it was a week full of highs and lows. Selina tried to get the hang of breastfeeding and was discouraged by the pain of it, but Bruce encouraged her and she kept at it. She pumped so Bruce could feed Helena at night but she ended up waking up with him nearly every time anyway, resulting in both of them being exhausted by the time morning came.

They had nothing to compare her to, but Helena seemed to be a mostly happy baby. She only cried when she had a reason to, and continued to mostly sleep the days away, though in short intervals that kept either of them from achieving much rest themselves. Adding to the stress were their jobs - Selina would be taking over the shelter soon, and Bruce was constantly fielding calls regarding his hospital, which was still in the renovation phase. The thought of juggling it all plus Helena was beyond daunting, and the frustrations all came to a head on their fifth morning home.

It was early and Helena was in her bassinet, sleeping after a full feeding, and Selina had just stomped back into the bedroom after seeing the kitchen for the first time in almost two days. She stood over the bed, dressed raggedly in sweatpants and one of Bruce's black t-shirts, glaring daggers at Bruce as he looked up innocently from his phone.

"What?" he asked obliviously.

"The house," she said, forcing her tone to be quiet, "is disgusting."

Bruce sighed and put his phone down. "I've been doing my best."

Her eyes widened. "There's trash all over the kitchen floor, leftovers left out on the counter - don't even get me started on our bathroom, I asked you to clean it three days ago."

Irritation flashed through his eyes. "I haven't exactly been getting any more sleep than you have, in case you hadn't noticed."

"That's not the point!"

"Selina," he hissed under his breath, "be quiet. You'll wake her up."

_Be quiet_? She narrowed her eyes. "You did _not_ just tell me to be quiet."

He rolled his eyes. "Selina... seriously, now is not the time for this."

"Just get out of here for awhile," she snapped, walking around the bed and crawling in on her side. "I want to be alone."

She was doing her best to irritate him, and when she heard him laugh humorlessly and get out of bed, she knew she'd succeeded.

That was why she was surprised to hear him turn back halfway out the door and say, "You could be a little more grateful. I've been feeding you and taking care of you all week, and before now I'd been doing a lot better with picking up after myself."

"Actually," she replied, not bothering to turn and look at him, "Alfred and Molly's been feeding me. And I never asked you to do anything but clean the bathroom. I can take care of myself."

He snorted. "Okay. Well, if that's what you want, fine with me. I've spent enough of my life helping people who didn't appreciate it."

Then he left, and she instantly felt rotten.

One diaper change and one feeding later, Bruce had still not yet returned to their room, and after putting Helena back into her little bed, Selina decided to do something she rarely did - swallow her pride and go after him. She blamed the sleep deprivation for all of it - even Bruce had shown irritation and snappiness that she'd never seen from him before.

Of course she could take care of herself - she could do damn near anything, being Selina Kyle. But she didn't have to prove that to anyone, not here. She didn't want to fight.

She walked out of her bedroom and down the hallway, having a feeling where Bruce was, and her hunch was right. He was in their gym room, sweating out his frustration on the floor. She instantly wished she'd stayed in her room.

He was in the middle of doing sit-ups - a lot of them, if the thin sheet of sweat on his brow was any indication - and was wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. She was pretty sure she saw the words "Calvin Klein" somewhere on the waistband, but she didn't have time to confirm before she realized she was half-drooling and that he'd caught her.

He jerked his head back to shake off the damp hair that had fallen into his eyes and ceased his efforts, sitting up and giving her an appraising look. She forgot why she'd come looking for him in the first place.

_Six weeks_. She cringed and tore her eyes away, wondering how she was ever going to survive this, and started walking back towards their room. She heard him following her, and it sent a subtle thrill through her veins.

_Six weeks, six weeks, six weeks_, she repeated in her head like a mantra, as if it could keep him from following her into the bathroom connected to their room. It didn't.

She waited until they were both inside of the bathroom to turn and look at him. She couldn't help but feel the disparity between them as she looked upon his mostly-naked, sweat dampened figure again. He looked... magnificent, if she was being honest.

She glanced into the mirror above the sink before them and immediately looked away. She was pretty sure she hadn't brushed her hair in the last day and a half. This disheveled person in the mirror wasn't her, and this strange body didn't feel like hers. And she definitely didn't understand the hungry gleam in Bruce's eye as he looked her over.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm a bitch."

It seemed to catch him off guard. He paused and then said, "No, I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my mind, but... it's not an excuse."

She nodded and then slowly turned towards the mirror. He saw the way she could barely stand her own reflection, and reached out to her.

His arm slid around her waist as she started dragging a comb through her hair. He knew she wouldn't want to talk about any self-image issues, so he tried reassuring her another way.

She closed her eyes and dropped the comb slowly when his lips pressed into the side of her neck. "Bruce..."

He put both of his hands on her waist and spun her around so that she faced him. His hands brushed her hair behind her ears but she avoided his intent gaze. "Don't, Bruce."

"Why not?" He kissed her jaw, then the corner of her mouth, pulling her close against his body.

"Six weeks," she replied, trying to pull away, but he held her in place.

"Six weeks of no sex," he replied, in between kisses that moved to her ear and left her close to breathless. "There are alternatives."

"Helena..."

"... is asleep," he said, pulling back an inch and looking into her eyes. "And there's a baby monitor right behind you."

She bit her bottom lip. Her hands found his waist, toying with the band of soft fabric that landed just on his hips, and she knew he could feel her hesitation.

"I just... I don't know."

He furrowed his brows and lifted her chin with his fingers. "You're nervous," he stated, a hint of surprise in his tone.

She was about to protest, or just tell him to get out, but then he unexpectedly picked her up and put her on the bathroom counter. Then their faces were level, and he nudged her knees apart to stand between her legs.

"I'll say this as many times as it takes to sink in," Bruce said. "I've never found you more beautiful than I do right now. I don't care what changes happen to your body. I don't care how many knots are in your hair. I want you."

"You're supposed to say that," she replied, but his voice was making her shiver like crazy.

"Doesn't mean I don't mean it," he said. "I do."

"You haven't seen me," she muttered. "My stomach, my... everything. And my stupid boobs will probably leak all over you. And if you touch them it'll hurt like hell."

As quickly as he'd picked her up, he yanked off her shirt and tossed it away. She tried not to to cringe as his eyes swept down her body.

A small smile danced on his lips as he brought his gaze back up to her flustered one. "Don't you know what it does to a man to watch the woman he loves carry his child? And bring her into the world?"

She shrugged. "Not really, no."

"It's made me crazy," he said in a low voice. "How else do you think I was able to survive your sex drive for the last few months?"

She smirked a little at that. His hands were on her hips, hers were behind her back on the counter, holding herself up. "So, what... it's an ego thing?"

He shook his head. "It's a lot more than that. And seeing you with her now, how you take care of her, how you love her... I didn't think I could possibly love you more but you keep proving me wrong."

She gave him a tight smile. "Still... I know how I look right now. You don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying," he replied, a bit more fiercely. "You know... this doesn't really suit you, this insecurity. You're Selina Kyle. You know damn well how sexy you are. And you know how much I love you and every inch of you. Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise."

She considered him, thought over his words, and quickly realized that he was right. As much as her current image didn't fit her perception of herself, it was only temporary. She'd get back into shape eventually, figure out how to manage her time so that she could keep up her appearance, and even if that took time, that was fine.

And six weeks was a long time away. Helena was still sleeping soundly, and the man she loved was standing in between her legs, nearly naked, beautiful, staring at her with enough intensity to make her shudder in anticipation.

She placed her hands on his chest, and ran them slowly up the toned muscles there until her fingertips hit his shoulders. "I was planning on taking a shower."

"So was I," he murmured back.

She shook her head, grinning a little bit. "It's hard to believe that a week after pushing a human being through my body that I'd already be this horny."

Bruce smirked and picked her up again. Her arms and legs wound around him automatically. "I don't find it hard to believe at all."

She held on to him as he moved them towards the shower and opened the door, pressing a kiss just under his collarbone and moving her lips up to his neck as he adjusted the temperature. She knew the spots on his neck that were the most sensitive and gently sucked at them, earning a groan as he set her down on her feet and broke the contact.

She let him take off the rest of her clothes - she still cringed a little bit but the hunger in his eyes still deepened at the sight of her bare form, and that was all the encouragement she really needed. He motioned for her to step inside the shower, then slipped off his underwear as she took her place under the falling hot water. He left the shower door open after he got inside, so that they could keep an eye on the baby monitor on the counter, and then set his sights on the woman he found more beautiful than he could stand to describe.

From where he was standing, he couldn't understand her newly developed insecurity. His eyes started at her feet and moved up slowly, taking in the shapely, long legs that had barely changed with pregnancy. Then there were her hips and thighs, larger and curvier, expanded to accommodate the birth of the child sleeping in the next room, and also the spattering of still-dark stretch marks that covered them. He didn't mind the extra curves, and the stretch marks only served to remind him of how far she'd come and how much she loved him to bear his child. Then there was her belly, still quite round and pregnant-looking, and a few more stretch marks, but smooth and sort of cute to him. Above it lay her breasts, almost comically huge but terribly oversensitive and abused from the first week of nursing, and for her sake, he had to control his urge to reach out and cup them. Her arms and shoulders were like her legs, unaffected, but the long, gorgeous dark brown hair that spilled down her graceful back was a gift from pregnancy. It hit her waist and was half-soaked from the shower now, and he let his hands reach out to it as his eyes finally reached her face.

She hadn't worn makeup in a week, and he liked it that way. When not painted red, her full lips had a lovely, fleshy pink color to them, and those lips knew his body in ways no others ever had. Her cheeks were a little fuller from her weight gain but were as elegant as ever, flushed right now as steam rose and swirled around their bodies. Her eyes, ones that never failed to cut through him and seduce him at their slightest whim, were closed as the water rushed over her, and he couldn't hold back anymore - he pressed his body to hers, his chest to her back, and ran his fingers through her hair until he ended up at her scalp, where he started to massage lightly.

It was an innocent, loving touch, and she sighed contentedly as his fingers worked around her head in slow, soothing, relaxing circles. He continued with that for a bit, feeling himself harden as she leaned into his touch with her whole body, but he paced himself, opting to then wash her hair for her and let this be the slow, sensual experience she deserved it to be.

It felt like heaven to her, like pure luxury, and his arousal brushing against her from behind made her ache with the desire to feel it inside of her, made all the more powerful when she reminded herself of the fact that it couldn't happen.

He'd just gently pushed her head up after rinsing the conditioner from it when he gently turned her around and unexpectedly dropped down to his knees. She immediately suspected a dirtier reason for this but was contradicted by the feel of a soft pouf running along her foot and up her leg, his hands gentle on her, the smell of her flowery body wash wafting through the air as he took it upon himself to wash her whole body.

He touched her lovingly, reverently, letting his lips kiss places that he suspected she might dislike at the current moment - her belly, her stretch marks, her sides - and by the time he'd gotten back to his feet, she was a soaped-up, heavy-lidded mess, grabbing him and pulling him close with such force that it surprised him.

But he didn't let his lips touch hers quite yet. Instead, he kissed her cheek and pulled her back under the water, watching it rinse away the soap and feeling himself twitch at the sight.

He hadn't kissed her on the lips in a full day, he realized. That wouldn't do.

He didn't have to reach for him again. He flew forward and took her hard in his arms, pressing her against the shower wall, finally kissing her and wasting no time in tasting her mouth and stealing her breath with his tongue.

It was all habit, all physical memory, that made Selina automatically wrap her legs around him and grind their lower part together. His hands grabbed under her knees, also in habit, and pushed against her, and the friction was wonderful as they kissed each other into oblivion.

It wasn't until the tip of him almost slipped into her that they both realized they were about to break the rules, and Bruce quickly, but unhappily, shifted. He gave her a lopsided grin. "Oops."

Selina groaned. "I hate this."

He then placed her feet back down on the shower floor, then spun her around. Her palms found the wall and her legs spread a little bit instinctively. "Don't hate it," he replied simply, then found her arousal with his hand and made her bite back a moan.

His free hand brushed her soaked hair over her shoulder and brought his mouth to her neck, kissing, nipping, licking, all while his fingers carefully but firmly rocked her towards release. She was caught up in the moment, focused wholly on him, until she thought she heard a noise and her eyes flew open. "Was that -"

"She's fine," Bruce quickly assured her, his voice heavy and hot in her ear. "I'm keeping an eye on the monitor."

She nodded and closed her eyes, but she was distracted now, and Bruce could feel it. She was more tense now, not caught up like she had been, and he could almost feel her brain coming back to life and preventing her from being fully there.

So, determined to pull her back into the present, he spun her around and pushed her back against the wall. It took her by surprise, and she gasped a little bit when she suddenly found herself facing him. He kissed her hard, the way he knew she liked best, and as his fingers went back to work on her, his other hand cupped her cheek, crushing her lips to his.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and eagerly returned his kiss, liking the new position but still just a wee bit distracted. He caught her glancing off towards the monitor, and quickly took her by the chin and gave her another gentle shove against the wall.

"I told you," he said, "I'm keeping an eye on it. Relax." His lips trailed to her ear. "Don't think."

She shuddered a little bit and closed her eyes, digging her nails into his shoulders as his rhythm suddenly changed for the better and made her lose her breath. She always had been, and always would be, a sucker for that husky growl his voice became in moments like these, and it was all she needed to let go and let herself melt into him.

It didn't take long after that for her to come undone, shaking and gasping into his neck, kissing it as she slowly came down, having to make a real effort to keep her weak knees from buckling underneath her. He held her up, running his hands over her wet body, smiling a little when she turned the table and pushed him against the wall where she'd been.

She was a fast recoverer, always had been. She pressed her lips to his and then purred when she pulled away, "My turn to keep an eye on the monitor."

He wouldn't argue with that. He sensed some of her confidence back in the way that she kissed him and took charge, reaching between him and running her hand down over his chest and stomach. He stopped breathing for a moment when the same hand grasped him, held him in a firm grip of shower-moistened warmth, and then she was stroking, and he was closing his eyes in pulsing relief.

She knew how he liked it, read his signals fluently on when to quicken the pace and knew he'd shift and groan when she twisted a little on the way down and then took her time coming back up. She glanced out the door every few moments, shocked that they were actually getting away with this, and her hopes were quite high that they'd be able to keep the spark alive throughout their early parenthood.

She was driving him crazy, making him lose it enough to forget about her over sensitivity for a moment and run his hand over her breast while the other fisted in her hair. She bit her lip but didn't say anything, looking up to him to see his eyes closed and lips parted sensually, and the sight made her deal with the slight pain his touch caused. Then he squeezed a little bit and she fought a gasp that tried to escape her lips, focusing instead on him, kissing trails over his wet skin, anywhere her lips could reach, knowing he was close by the way his hips were jerking against her and the way his shallow breaths were getting shorter and more labored.

The hand in her hair pulled her close and he let his head loll on to her shoulder when he climaxed at last, letting out an undignified growl that made Selina hate the six-week ban even more - she could listen to the noises he made all day - but she kept herself calm, running her non-occupied hand through the hair above the back of his neck as he returned to some semblance of reality.

The water rinsed away the evidence of their tryst as he lifted his head and gave Selina a lazy, satisfied kiss on her lips, and then he looked down and realized he was still holding her breast. His brows furrowed for a moment before he smiled sheepishly. "I... sorry."

She shrugged, but took his hand in hers and tugged it away. "It's fine. It only hurt a little bit."

He opened his mouth to apologize again, but she stopped him with a kiss. They kissed languidly for a bit, until the water turned lukewarm, which was when they finally dragged themselves out of the shower.

They dried off in a mixture of silence and few words and chuckles here and there, ending up in luxuriously soft white fluffy robes and stepping completely silently back into the bedroom, careful not to wake Helena.

They ended up in bed, half sitting and half lying down, both of them peering into the bassinet, Selina basking in the warmth of Bruce's arms.

"I can't believe she's still asleep," Selina said drowsily.

"I still can't believe she's here," Bruce remarked in return, running his hand up and down Selina's fluff-covered arm.

Selina couldn't either. "I miss feeling her kick. I didn't know if I would, but I do."

"We can always have another baby if you want to feel it again."

Selina snorted loudly, almost loud enough to wake Helena. "Dream on, buddy."

Bruce chuckled. "Oh, come on. What's a few more?"

She turned her head to look back at him, incredulously. "If you aren't kidding, I will freak out."

"Of course I'm kidding," he said, pressing a feather-soft kiss to the tip of her nose. "But, maybe someday... one more baby would be nice."

The thought of going through all nine months of pregnancy all over again made Selina want to take a vow of celibacy. Or maybe drug Bruce long enough for an ethically challenged doctor to do a vasectomy on him. "You're nuts."

His fingers were in her damp hair now, trailing from root to tip, taking their time. "Actually... it's something I've thought a lot about ever since you got pregnant. We both know horrible things can happen, especially to people like us. And, just in case something ever did happen to us... I wouldn't want Helena to be alone. I used to wish that I had a brother or sister when I was a kid. Didn't you ever wish for that?"

Honestly, Selina was grateful that she'd been an only child. The life she'd been forced into would have been all the more horrifying if she'd had to drag a younger sibling into it. But in Bruce's case, she could understand his point. She couldn't even argue his logic, either. "Look, I get where you're coming from. But right now I don't want to even think about getting pregnant again. One kid is overwhelming enough."

Bruce nodded. "Fair enough."

Selina sighed, staring at Helena's sleeping form, unable to take her eyes off of her daughter. She felt her heart swell almost impossibly every time she looked upon that chubby little face, and she had to wonder - was it even possible to love someone that much? She didn't think she could ever feel more than she what she felt for Bruce, but this... this was different. It was all-encompassing, overwhelming, the most life-changing thing she'd ever felt. She'd never understood her father less than she did now, because she would cut herself and die choking in a pool of her own blood before she would ever hurt her child.

"I'd give anything to talk to my father about her," Bruce suddenly said unexpectedly. Selina didn't often hear him speak of his parents, especially not like this. "And about being a father."

She felt the same way about her mother. She knew there weren't really any words that would make him truly feel better or ease the never-ceasing, dull pain of someone you loved being ripped away from you.

But she'd still try, anyway. Before, maybe she wouldn't have, but it hurt to see Bruce hurt. She turned in his arms and faced him, placing a hand on his jaw.

"He'd be proud of you, Bruce. I might not have known him, but any parent would be proud of you. And he must have been a good man to have a son like you."

He gave her a small smile, bringing his thumb to her chin and then tracing the edge of her bottom lip with it. "I hope Helena turns out like you."

"You sure about that?" she asked flatly. "I'd say one jewel thief with a record as big as phone book is enough for one family."

Bruce smirked. "You know exactly what I mean."

She did. Her heart swelled again, and this time, she was sure it really did burst from within.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm pretty sure that this is my longest chapter ever for any story :) one little note first - I have never been to a christening before nor watched one besides one on the show Scrubs lol, so if my research steered me wrong in portraying the ceremony, I apologize - I did my best :) anyway, thank you guys as always for your reviews and feedback, you're all the best :) thank you also as always to midnightwings96, who continues to be amazing and key in me not abandoning this story. I hope you guys all like this giant chapter! :D **

Raven ran her hands under her uncle's desk at Wayne Enterprises, and found nothing. She opened all of the drawers and felt around for a button, latch, anything, but came up short. Then she straightened and looked around the office, deciding on trying the bookcases lining the walls next.

Sometimes she thought she was in the wrong line of work, being a technical engineer. Sure, she'd inherited her uncle Lucius' intellect and love of gadgetry and development, and she was among the best in the whole R & D department at WE, but she wondered sometimes if she shouldn't have been a detective. Sometimes, like now, a hunch would strike her and she would simply just know that she was right. All she needed were the pieces, and she could put almost any puzzle together. And this puzzle had been long in the making.

After finding out that her boyfriend was a masked vigilante who stalked the streets of Gotham at night, the missing pieces started falling into place. Vague suspicions she'd harbored over the years became clear-cut clues, and so much was starting to make sense now. But she needed proof, and had to know for sure. That was why she had snuck into her uncle's office and was now searching for a hidden passageway.

She checked the bookcases twice before deciding to check the desk again, and to her shock, this time she found what she was looking for. A hidden latch made the whole bookcase slide over and reveal a waiting elevator. She grinned.

_Oh, Uncle Lucius_, she thought as she stepped inside the elevator, _I am so busting you_.

A few moments later she found herself standing in an enormous, locked away, quite hidden room full of things that confirmed nearly all of her suspicions. The realization of it made her a bit angry at Lucius for keeping all of this from her - she could have been helping him all of these years, he didn't have to do all of this alone - but she knew he'd kept it from her to protect her.

The truth was, she was one of the few people that Lucius Fox could rarely fool. And she'd heard enough whispers and noticed enough inconsistencies over the years to suspect that he had been involved with the Batman. The fact that Wayne Enterprises had been so central to Bane's strategy during his occupation should have been enough for people to connect the two together, but nobody did, and few seemed to care. People were more interested in moving on than the "why" or "how" of it all. And she understood that. She just couldn't relate to it. She _had_ to know why and how.

She smirked at the sight of an identical vehicle to what Nightwing was driving these days. It was similar to the Tumblers that Bane's men had patrolled the streets with, but it was smaller and sleeker. She wondered if Lucius knew that the vigilante he was investing in and arming was also her boyfriend. If he did know, how long? Had he known before her?

"I knew I'd find you down here one of these days," her uncle's voice drawled, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her long black curls swished in the air a bit as she turned and watched him step off the elevator.

She turned back to the array of items before her and suppressed a sigh. "Oddly enough, I think I did too."

"What gave me away?" he asked, hands in his suit pockets as he stood beside her.

"I've known for years that you were hiding something," Raven replied.

"So tell me what you think now."

Raven took a deep breath. "I think you've been Batman's... investor... all this time. I think that must be part of why Bane targeted us, besides the fusion reactor. It also narrows down my list of suspects of who the Batman is."

"'Is'?" Lucius asked, brow raised.

"I know he's alive."

Lucius turned fully to her. "Now I think you're the one who's hiding things."

Raven raised her dark eyes to his. "Do you know who Nightwing is?"

"I do."

Raven closed her eyes and let her shoulders sag a little. "You knew before I did."

"You were happy. I'd never seen you that happy before. But, to be honest... I hoped that it was a phase, and that it would end before you'd found out the truth."

Raven turned suddenly angry eyes on her uncle. "What?"

"Being with him puts you in danger," Lucius said sadly. "I've seen firsthand what can happen to ladies who get caught up with these men."

"Well, it's too late now, isn't it?" Raven retorted. "I love him and I'm not leaving him. But it would have been nice to know who I was falling in love with to begin with. You're both to blame."

Lucius couldn't argue with that. "Fair enough," he muttered quietly.

Raven sighed, swallowing her frustration for the time being and opting to change the subject, though her tone didn't lose its terse edge. "Bruce Wayne and Batman disappeared on the same day, before Bane took over. They also reappeared the same day. And Bruce Wayne was presumed dead around the same time as Batman. Those Tumblers that Bane used, the same kind Batman was seen driving all those years ago - those were yours."

Lucius watched her, his face betraying nothing. She looked up to him and raised her brows. "It's him, isn't it? Bruce Wayne."

"It's not my truth to tell," Lucius replied stoically but softly.

"Nothing is, apparently," Raven said with a humorless laugh. "What else have you been lying to me about?"

A pained look crossed Lucius' features. "All I ever wanted to do was protect you, Raven."

"Well, feel free to stop doing me favors, Uncle Lucius," Raven said, walking back to the elevator.

He didn't bother to argue with her as the doors closed, and slight guilt crept over her as she ascended. She knew she was more than justified in her anger, and a part of her felt like she should have been still harsher. After all, the only part of her family that she had left had been lying to her for years. But that was precisely why she knew, deep down, that this wouldn't cause lasting damage to their relationship. Lucius may have been misguided, but his were the sins of a man trying to protect his dead brother's daughter, who had looked to him as a father figure most of her life, and she could only imagine how he must have despised watching her cavort with Blake, being aware of his alter ego.

_Blake_. She sighed to herself as the the elevator brought her back up to her uncle's office, resolving to save a few choice words for her boyfriend and do everything she could to convince him to fully open up his life to her. Meeting Batman, she thought, would be a good start.

* * *

"Look, Raven..."

"Don't 'Look, Raven' me right now, Blake."

Blake's eyes narrowed on his girlfriend as they sat across from each other at the dinner table in her apartment. "'Blake'? You must be pissed."

She raised her eyebrows as if to say "duh". "Yeah, I am. And I'm sick of being the last to know everything. I want to meet him."

At this point, Blake hadn't bothered to confirm nor deny her Bruce Wayne/Batman theory. She was far too convinced - and correct - for a denial to be effective, and he wasn't about to spill Bruce's secret to anyone. Not even to his girlfriend and Fox's niece. "I... I mean, I can ask him."

Raven narrowed her eyes and fought a loud sigh. "I don't want to meet him to gawk at him and ask him how he survived a nuclear bomb. I want to meet him because he's clearly a huge influence in your life - maybe the biggest one - and I'm sick of being in the dark and on the sidelines. Don't you think I deserve a little transparency? Or is staying up all night praying you don't get killed not enough?"

"I'm not saying that it isn't," Blake replied, "and I hate that that's how it is now. That's why I kept it from you." He paused and then ran a hand through his hair. "Look, it's not up to me. But I'll ask him."

"Fine," she replied tersely.

As if on cue, Blake's phone vibrated on the table. He peered at the caller ID and then grabbed it and walked out of the room. Raven almost growled - she hated that almost more than anything, the way he darted out of a room whenever his mentor would call him.

A few moments later, he reappeared, giving Raven a small grin as he tossed his phone back on the table and said, "Looks like we've been invited to a christening."

She thought back to the photo of a baby that she'd caught a glimpse of on Blake's phone a few weeks ago and connected the dots. "We?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"And where is this christening happening?"

Blake let his grin grow wide as he replied, "The Bahamas."

Her eyes widened by a fraction. She hadn't been expecting that at all. "So that's where the Batman goes to retire?"

Blake shrugged. "Better pack your bathing suit."

She grinned despite herself. "This almost makes up for the constant lying, Robin."

He raised a brow. "Back to Robin. Good sign."

* * *

"There's just too much to do today," Selina sighed, standing in front of a full-length mirror next to her dresser, watching as Bruce tried to assemble a baby-carrying wrap on her body. "I want to go back to bed."

"I can keep Helena with me today if you'd like," Bruce said, furrowing his brows as the wrap continued to disobey his efforts to secure it to Selina's torso. He'd gone over the instructions about ten times now, and it seemed simple - the carrier was simply a very long piece of stretchy fabric, and with some criss-crossing and knot-tying, it was supposed to become a secure infant carrier. But it was proving to be extremely frustrating.

"I'm the human milk factory, Bruce," Selina replied, watching Bruce remove the fabric and then start over again. "I don't have much of a choice to not take her, being the one with the food."

"Just offering," Bruce replied softly.

"I know." Selina's eyes met their own reflection in the mirror, and she thought she looked pretty good today. Her hair was up and her face was put together, and she'd started feeling better physically the very moment she'd started working out again. Helena was now a little over three weeks old, and they'd managed to figure out a semblance of a routine in recent days, but of course, that would now go out the window with both of them heading back to work. On top of that, the christening was today, and that meant a lot of social interaction for one day.

"Okay," Bruce said, tying the last knot on the fabric and straightening it on Selina's waist. "Got it. Let's try this out. "

A moment later, Bruce had Helena in his arms, and he began trying to place her into the carrier. The trick was to place one leg into one strip of fabric covering one side of Selina's chest, then put the other leg into the other one, then, Helena's belly to Selina's belly, pull up the bunched fabric at her waist and cover Helena with it, thus creating a secure hold.

Selina was skeptical that it would work, but it did, and once Helena was in, Bruce stepped back and smiled, quite proud of himself for figuring it out. Selina couldn't help but smile back.

"Alright," she said, "now comes the real test."

She unbuttoned the top of her blouse and, with some determined maneuvering, managed to free a breast from her bra, and Helena instantly latched on. Selina looked into the mirror and was pleased to find that she could do this all day, and nobody would even know that she was nursing the child - the wrap provided just enough cover to be discreet without suffocating either her or Helena.

"Well," Selina smiled, "maybe I really can do this."

Bruce grinned and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "Of course you can."

"Excited to see everyone today?" Selina asked as Bruce walked to their closet.

He pulled out one of his suits and tossed it on the bed. "Yeah. It's kind of surreal. But I am."

"What's surreal?" Selina asked, amusement in her tone. "That we've got a baby and now we're suddenly working parents? Or that the whole Bat-family is going to be under one roof in a few hours to meet her?"

He lowered his brows and cracked a grin. "_Bat-family_?"

She shrugged. "Is there another word to describe them as properly at that does?"

"I suppose not," Bruce said, turning back to his suit and removing the hanger. "And it's all surreal, to answer your question. But in the best way."

Their eyes met for a short moment before Selina's gaze darted towards the clock on their nightstand and she sighed. "I have to go. You're bringing her dress to the church, right?"

"Yeah," he replied as Selina grabbed some flats and headed for the door, stopping to kiss him before she left. Afterwards he said, "Call me if you need anything. I'll bring you lunch."

She smiled. "Thanks. See you later."

"Bye," he said, unable to stop the smile that crossed his lips as the two ladies he loved most left for the day.

* * *

It was both Selina and Anita's first day back at work, and with them in mind, as one of her parting gifts, Brenda set up their work areas close to one another and placed some baby equipment at their desks. They were both sporting carriers but she knew they'd need the bouncy seat and small bassinet she'd pulled out of some storage kept in the shelter's back rooms.

It was a day as far out of both Selina and Anita's comfort zones as they could remember - both of them taking on their promotions for the first time while toting their newborns as well. Anita had little choice but to bring Kylie with her to work, whereas Selina did have a choice but felt as if she had none, but when they walked in the shelter and saw one another toting babies, it immediately put them both a little bit more at ease.

Selina spent the first half of the day behind a computer with Brenda, who showed her the system and went over the budget, explained her new duties as director and generally overwhelmed her with so much information that Selina began to physically take notes. The morning whirred by so fast that when she looked up from the screen and found Bruce standing in the office doorway grinning, she could hardly believe that it was lunchtime. Or that he'd remembered to bring her lunch like he'd promised.

She got up from the desk and greeted him with a brief kiss as Helena snoozed next to her chest. "Hi, honey," she said in a mockingly-sweet tone that made him grin.

He handed her a paper bag and then put his hands in his pockets. "How's your day going?"

She opened the bag and started feeling around in it, suddenly realizing that she was famished. "Fine, I guess. Stressful. What time is it?"

"It's almost two," he said slightly apologetically. "I would have gotten here sooner but -"

She looked up at him in horror. "Crap! My stupid class! Dammit..."

She then shoved half of the sandwich he'd brought her into her mouth and shook the crumbs off her hands, flying past him into the hallway. "Class?" he asked, following after her.

"Yeah, I haven't done a self defense class in over a month and it's supposed to start in five minutes," she said, looking down at Helena and placing a hand over her head as she half-ran to the room she normally taught her classes in.

"Can I do anything to help?" Bruce asked.

"Not unless you want to hold her the whole time," Selina replied, hurrying inside the room and turning the light on before running around, moving chairs and trying to set up.

"I wouldn't mind that," Bruce smiled. "And I'd kind of like to watch your class."

"You're not supposed to be working right now?"

He shook his head, helping her shove a row of chairs against a wall. "Nope. I have to go back to the hospital tonight to sign some stuff, but other than that, I'm free."

Selina straightened and opened her mouth to reply, but then Anita burst into the room looking panicked. She cradled a mildly asleep Kylie in her arms as she exclaimed with wide eyes, "Whitestone's here. His car just pulled up."

Selina rolled her eyes and then rubbed them with the tips of a few fingers. "Great. Just great. Whatever. Can you bring the girls in, Anita?"

Anita nodded and rushed back out of the room. Selina pursed her lips and maneuvered Helena out of the carrier and into Bruce's waiting arms. "I guess it was too much to ask for a douche-free day. Did you know he donated double what you did last month?"

Bruce adjusted Helena in his arms, shrugging as he replied, "Good. I'm glad I inspired him to try to one up me."

"He's a dick," Selina grumbled, untying the wrap from her body quickly and discarding it on to a chair. "I don't want his money."

"Just mine?" Bruce asked with a grin as the shelter's current inhabitants started trickling into the room. Selina didn't seem to hear him, walking up to the front of the room and transitioning smoothly into business mode as he took a few steps back to stand beside the doorway with Helena.

After a moment or two, once the room was full and Selina was speaking to the small crowd of mothers, a nervous-looking Anita reappeared with Douglas Whitestone and his son, the aptly named Douglas Whitestone Jr., at her side, and Bruce snorted under his breath.

"Mr. Wayne! It is Wayne, isn't it?" the elder Whitestone half-whispered, extending a hand to Bruce.

"Mr. Whitestone," Bruce nodded politely, shaking the man's hand, utilizing the fluent fake-friendliness he'd been trained in as a child.

The younger Whitestone unenthusiastically surveyed Selina, who was still in the speaking stage of the class, while the older one continued to prattle on. "This must be the little one! Very pretty, very pretty."

Bruce nodded again. "Thank you."

"She was born at Nassau General, yes?"

Bruce answered the extremely obvious question with unfailing glass kindness. "She was. We were treated very well, thank you."

"I'm glad to hear that," Whitestone grinned. "I'd have dropped in if I'd known when you guys were there. How's your wife doing? _Is_ she your wife?"

"She's doing great," Bruce replied. "And no, not yet."

Selina kept an eye on the scene from the corner of her eye as she spoke, wondering why Dick 1 and Dick 2 had to pick today to drop in for no apparent reason. But, unlike Brenda and probably Anita, she wasn't intimidated by the old man or his money, and the more his son - who she'd never met before - kept glaring at her, the less she cared that they were there. She did feel bad for Bruce, however.

When the forced conversation finally waned, Bruce noticed Doug Jr. leaning in towards his father, and the boy did a poor job of whispering, "Is this a joke? She still looks 12 months pregnant."

Bruce heard the older man chuckle in response, and he rolled his eyes. A moment later, he heard the kid then say, "This should be entertaining. I could take her down with both hands tied behind my back."

He then leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, laughing quietly as he turned his eyes back to Selina. To his surprise, Selina met his gaze and smiled sweetly. "Could you be so kind as to volunteer for a few moments, Mr... ?"

"Whitestone Jr.," the younger man replied, laughing as he said it. He didn't move, appearing to find her request a joke, until his father clapped him on the back and told him to go on.

Selina smiled as the young man - grinning that stupid grin the whole time - sauntered up the front of the room where she was. He was tall and had the physique of a high school football player, pale, light blonde hair, equally light brown eyes, and strutting in a way that Selina thought reeked of pure douche. She spared a glance to Bruce, who looked amused and curious as to what she was up to, and she gave him a subtle wink.

"All right, Junior," Selina smiled when the young man was a few feet away from her, "go ahead and attack me."

She then turned her back to him, and he laughed again and looked around the room. "What, are you joking?"

"Nope," she replied, not turning around. "Come at me."

He snorted - she was already sick of listening to the idiot laughing - and then shrugged. "Okay then."

He stepped forward and reached out, then stopped short and said, "What, do you want me to, like, grab you, or -"

"Yes," Selina said loudly, rolling her eyes.

He didn't laugh this time, and when she felt his lanky arms on her shoulders she said, "Okay, stop right there. Hold my arms over my chest." She then looked out towards the women and said, "When a guy has you like this, don't panic. You'll want to panic because you can't move your arms, but remember - you've got your feet."

She then kicked down on Junior's ankle - gently, since she was only re-enacting - and then said, "Cause enough pain to get them to loosen their grip just a little bit, and then -" she freed her elbow and pretended to smash it backwards into Junior's gut. Then she added a swift, non-connecting kick to his groin for good measure. "Then, run like hell while he's down and call the cops."

She then turned around, facing the boy, and said, "Now, for the straight-on approach. Most of us aren't lucky to know we're about to get punched until we're bleeding on the floor, but when you do see it coming -" she motioned to Junior, who looked at her incredulously - "it makes all the difference."

He continued to stare stupidly at her, and she gestured to her face and said, "Hit me."

"I - seriously?"

"Just do it, kid."

He looked around nervously, but a moment later he swung, and she ducked. "We all know how to duck," she said afterwards, "so I'll show you something else as well. Swing again."

He swung again, and she ducked again, then caught his arm before he pulled it back, twisted it and pressed it against his back as he let out an overly dramatic yelp. She ignored him. "This would be the point where you could attempt to knock out your attacker with a blow to the back of his head."

She released him, and he turned around and glared at her, clutching his arm. "Geez!"

"You'll be fine," Selina replied. "I barely twisted. Now, hit me again."

This went on for a bit, and the longer it did, the more accurate Junior's hits became, and Selina realized he was actually trying to hit her now. Maybe he was hoping to prove that he could, or maybe he was just angry enough at being mildly embarrassed to actually try to purposefully hit her, but his fist never came close to connecting with any part of her. She ducked, deflected, and all but danced around him, teaching and looking damn good as she did it. Junior got more and more flustered, and when she caught his fist in mid air as it tried to hit her in the jaw, she smiled smugly at him and said loudly enough for the whole room to hear, "That's enough, little boy. Thanks for volunteering."

She then released his fist, and he yanked his hand away, turning and storming off, kicking over a chair as he went. Selina glanced at Bruce, who looked immensely satisfied and proud but angry as well, and she then watched happily as father and son left the room at last. Anita grinned widely at Selina, giving her a silent and proud thumbs up, and Selina chuckled before clearing her throat. "All right. On with the class."

* * *

A few hours later, Bruce drove an already-tired Selina and uncharacteristically awake Helena to the same church that Molly and Christian had gotten hitched in, and as he parked next to a row of cars in the back of the lot, Selina asked, "Are they all here?"

"Yeah," Bruce replied, turning off the ignition. "I sent the jet last night and Alfred picked them all up today."

"So, it's Gordon, Fox, Blake, Raven, Alfred, Leslie..."

"And Molly and Christian," Bruce reminded her. "And Anita's right behind us."

Selina raised a brow and unhooked her seatbelt. "Well. At least the list isn't too pathetically short."

Selina made quick work of changing Helena into her christening gown in the backseat - a frilly, lacy white dress that she never would have dressed her baby girl in otherwise - and then joined Bruce as he walked into the church. He was still in his suit from earlier that day but had discarded the tie hours ago, and Selina had changed into a dark red dress back at the shelter at Bruce's insistence - she'd forgotten that christenings were a considerably formal event - and her feet ached in her heels as they entered the building.

One short hallway and one door later, they walked into the church's sanctuary and found that everybody had beaten them there besides Anita. Littered among the pews were Alfred and Leslie, sitting with Lucius and Gordon, chatting amongst one another as Blake and Raven sat in the row in front of them and got talked to death by Molly while Christian merely smiled in amusement. All heads turned when the doors opening signaled Bruce and Selina's arrival, and Selina turned her eyes to Bruce long enough to see the small smile creep upon his face.

"Finally," Alfred commented loudly as the small gathering of folks got to their feet to greet them. "He's always late, what did I tell you?"

"I've got a baby now, Alfred," Bruce replied with a grin. "Now I've got a valid reason to be late."

Bruce shook hands with Fox and then Gordon as Selina noticed Raven, at the back of the line, whispering something into Blake's ear with a self-satisfied look on her face. She would have gone and introduced herself then but Fox's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Miss Kyle," the older man grinned, "congratulations on the little one."

"Oh," she smiled, shifting so Lucius could get a better look at the baby in her arms, "thanks."

He leaned in and touched the baby's cheek, smiling as he said, "My, oh my. Pictures don't do her justice."

"Want to hold her?" Selina asked, truthfully ready for the passing back-and-forth of Helena to begin and give her arms a break.

"Of course, if you don't mind," he replied politely.

"Not at all," Selina smiled, depositing Helena into his arms. She was then immediately accosted by Molly.

"Hey, girl!" she greeted happily, pulling Selina into a hug that she returned awkwardly - she didn't think she'd ever get used to touchy people.

"Hi," Selina replied, pulling away. "When did you get back from your honeymoon?"

"Just yesterday morning," Molly smiled brightly. "I slept all day, I was so tired. I'll have to come over later and tell you all about it. Oh! I got you something from Aspen, too."

"Oh, you didn't have to -"

"Of course I did!"

Selina smiled weakly, knowing arguing with Molly about anything, ever, was pointless. She then noticed Leslie looking at her a bit strangely - almost sadly - but then the older woman quickly turned her expression into a smile. Molly rattled on, and Selina half-listened, knowing what that look from Leslie must have meant something.

Meanwhile, Bruce shook hands with Gordon, who, out of everyone, looked by far the most awkward and uneasy. "I'm glad you came, Commissioner," Bruce smiled warmly. "Thanks."

"Thanks for inviting me," he replied with a nod. "And congratulations. And call me Jim."

Bruce nodded. "All right." He had to admit, he felt the slight awkwardness as well - even during their last adventure in Gotham, his interaction with Gordon had been mostly business or Joker related, and one of the last times he'd seen the Commissioner, he'd been holding a gun to the Joker's head. He'd never forget looking up to see Gordon, wearing a look of slight terror but also of understanding as he pushed Bruce's hand aside and told him to run away before he got arrested.

He'd been a witness to many of Bruce's worst memories, fought alongside of him in each of his wars, and now to have him there during an occasion so innocent and joyous - Bruce hoped it could be the start of a real friendship.

"How's the kids?" Bruce asked, smiling at Lucius as he cradled Helena and began to walk towards them.

"Good," Gordon replied. "They're good." Then he added quietly, "Barbara came back."

"Oh," Bruce said, "that's great. I'm glad."

Gordon nodded and then fell quiet as Lucius approached, grinning broadly as he said to Bruce, "Quite the lovely little girl you have here, Mr. Wayne."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Fox," Bruce grinned back, reaching out to take his daughter only to be rebuffed by Molly's sudden appearance.

"My turn!" Molly chirped, taking Helena out of Fox's arms. "Come on, Helena, you're going to help me convince Chris to have our own little bundle of joy..."

Bruce chuckled as Lucius shrugged and said with raised brows, "Exuberant, that one."

"You have no idea," Bruce replied.

"Ah well, speaking of which, there's someone who is quite excited to meet you..." Lucius turned and looked around, then turned back around with Raven in tow.

Bruce knew that she was aware of his secrets, and he and Selina had agreed to her coming today, but it didn't make "meeting" her today any less odd. He remembered her from his days at Wayne Enterprises, having considered her R&D's best engineer, and he hadn't expected her to end up back in his life through Blake.

"Mr. Wayne," she said evenly, extending a hand. "Good to see you again."

He shook her hand, noticing Blake standing behind her, watching. "You too. Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting me," she replied. "It was unexpected."

Bruce shrugged lightly. "I didn't expect your powers of deduction to be so sharp."

She grinned a little at that. "Well, finding out that Robin is actually a masked vigilante kind of changed my perception of what's far fetched and what isn't."

"Well, _Robin_ -" he glanced at Blake, surprised that he let this girl call him by his hated first name - "was only trying to protect you. So was Lucius. They've both seen a lot."

"So have I," Raven replied.

Meanwhile, after a quick, genuinely nice greeting from Gordon, Selina approached Leslie and wasn't surprised to see the same sad expression overcome her face for a spilt second when the older woman looked up and saw her. "Hello, dear."

Leslie hugged her lightly and Selina returned the embrace quickly, then asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Leslie lied. "Nothing at all."

Selina inclined her head and stared at Leslie as if to say _oh come on_. "Leslie, I've known you for years. Spit it out."

"No, no, it can wait. Just enjoy today, dear. I'll tell you another time."

Selina's eyes widened. "Okay, you're really freaking me out now."

"I just want you to enjoy this -"

"Well now I'm not going to be able to think about anything besides what you aren't telling me!" Selina interrupted. "So out with it."

Leslie sighed and took Selina's hand, leading her away from the others towards another row of pews. "I just found out today." She then took a breath and said quietly, "It's your father."

Selina furrowed her brows. "My father?"

"He's at my clinic in Gotham. He doesn't have much time left."

"Time left for what?"

Leslie paused before saying as gently as she could, "He's dying, Selina."

Practiced, comfortable, years-old numbness met a wave of something Selina didn't want to feel. She'd known this day would come sooner or later. She'd just always assumed she'd find out that Russell Kyle died after the fact, once his body turned up in a ditch or sketchy alleyway.

He'd been dead to her for fifteen years, anyway. But still, she suddenly felt a strange coldness start taking hold from the inside out. "Let me guess... liver failure?"

"Liver failure, heart failure... too much, too late to fix. Especially considering his years of addiction and the fact that they'd never give him new organs because of it."

Selina sighed, glancing across the room and meeting Bruce's gaze. Her face must have betrayed the sweeping cold inside, battling with her numbness that she'd used to keep the pain that her father caused her at bay, because his own smile faltered. She turned back to Leslie. "Well. I'm sorry that your clinic has to put up with him. Hopefully it won't have to much longer."

Leslie put a hand on Selina's shoulders. "I'm telling you this because if you wanted to talk to him one last time -"

"No," Selina said fiercely. "No. I haven't talked to him since he cracked my head open against a kitchen counter. He's getting what he deserves."

Leslie nodded understandingly, but pressed a piece of folded paper into Selina's hand anyway. "If you change your mind, this is the number to his room. He doesn't have more than a few days left, but he's conscious and aware."

Selina was about to protest again, but then Bruce was suddenly at her side with the priest who was to officiate the ceremony. "Hey, sorry to interrupt. But we're ready."

Selina looked from Bruce to the priest and quickly nodded. "Sure. Okay. Where's Helena?"

The priest walked on as Bruce gestured behind him. "Molly took her from Fox, then Alfred stole her for a minute, and now Gordon's got her. And Anita just got here." He looked a bit more closely at Selina and asked softly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, handing Bruce the piece of paper. "Can you put this in your pocket? I don't have one."

"Sure," Bruce said, not believing that she was fine for a minute. He looked at Leslie, hoping to find an answer there, but the doctor simply pursed her lips and looked down. He looked back to Selina and could tell that she was five thousand miles away.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered against her ear, "What happened?"

She shook her head. "I'll tell you later. It's not a big deal. Let's get this done."

He nodded, leaving it be for now, and took Helena back from Gordon.

* * *

Standing between the family of three and the priest was an ornate basin of clear water, and Selina tried her best to focus on the ceremony alone as it began.

Their guests were circled behind them, watching as the priest began the ceremony by asking Bruce and Selina a question. "What name have you given this child?"

Bruce was the one that spoke, to Selina's relief. "Helena Martha Wayne."

"And what do you ask of the church?"

"Baptism," Selina replied when Bruce paused. She grinned at him and his forgotten line, cradling a snoozing Helena in her arms.

The priest, a very old, kind man, nodded. "And have you chosen a godparent?"

Bruce nodded, then turned around and called Blake's name softly. Blake looked up and stared blankly at Bruce. "What?"

Bruce jerked his head towards the basin, motioning for Blake to step up beside them. It took Alfred patting Blake on the shoulder and then giving him a firm nudge to get him to finally take his place on Selina's other side.

Selina tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help but give Blake a nudge in his ribs with her elbow. "Breathe, Boy Wonder," she chided under her breath.

Blake rolled his eyes, and the priest went on with the process. He asked the three participants a few more questions, made the sign of the cross over Helena's forehead, and had Bruce, Selina, and Blake do the same. He then read from the Book of Matthew and said some prayers, had them make promises to guide and protect Helena as she grew up, and blessed the water in the basin.

Then he instructed Selina to place Helena's head over the basin, and told Bruce and Blake to both place hands on the child. Bruce placed his over Selina's right hand, the one that was cradling Helena's neck and some of her back, and Blake put his hand under Helena's left shoulder.

The priest then poured a small amount of water over Helena's forehead. "I Baptize you, Helena Martha, in the name of the Father," he poured another bit of water, and Helena squirmed a little bit, "the Son," one more pouring, "and the Holy Spirit."

The priest then dabbed a bit of oil on the baby's forehead, symbolizing her anointing as a new Christian, and gestured to Selina that she could now cradle the child back into her arms fully. A Baptismal candle was lit, and the priest prayed one last time and blessed the family and friends as the ceremony concluded.

Molly, proving her exuberance once again, clapped quickly and enthusiastically, and the others joined in, and Bruce beamed at everyone as Selina turned to Blake and said, "Want to hold your goddaughter?"

He smiled and held out his arms. "Oh yeah. I wasn't expecting this at all."

"It was my idea for it to be a surprise," Selina said as he took Helena from her. "But Bruce chose you without even having to think about it."

He grinned down at the baby, then at Selina. "So it was a one-sided decision?"

Selina smirked. "Oh please. Like I let Bruce make any of those."

Blake shook his head with a good natured chuckle, and then Selina noticed Raven out of the corner of her eye and remembered that she hadn't met the girl yet. As she went off to introduce herself, Bruce turned to Blake and smiled as Helena seemed to awaken a bit.

"Hey," Blake said, "thanks. This means a lot."

Bruce nodded. "I would have told you, but Selina -"

"Wanted it to be a surprise," Blake smiled, nodding. "Yeah, she just told me."

Bruce nodded again. "Well, I'm going to hold you to your godfather duties. Just to let you know."

"Sure," Blake said, looking down at Helena as she started squirming and batting her little fists around her head. "I guess this means I gotta spend all my holidays in the Bahamas, huh?"

"Rough, I know," Bruce grinned.

Blake grinned back, then said, "I would have thought you'd pick Alfred."

Bruce paused and then said, "Alfred is... he's the closest thing to a grandfather she'll ever have. As far as I'm concerned he _is_ her grandfather. But if anything ever happened to me... you're young. You'll be able to be there for her if I'm not."

Blake's face became as serious as Bruce's at this semi-dark thought. Then he raised his brows a bit as he said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad and flattered that you trust me enough to feel that way, but that's a lot of pressure you just put on me if something actually did happen to you."

Bruce nodded, then smiled and gave the younger man's shoulder a pat. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time I dropped something huge in your lap and told you to figure it out."

Blake laughed. "Yeah, you're kind of a jerk that way."

Meanwhile, as the two men laughed, Selina took advantage of the lack of thoughts about her father in her head and walked up to Raven and smiled. "You must be Raven."

She turned away from Lucius, who she'd been speaking to, and have Selina a friendly smile. "I am. And you must be... Mr. Wayne's wife?"

Selina shook her head. "Not wife. But yes. I'm Selina Kyle."

"Nice to meet you," Raven smiled. "I've seen your face before. You fought in the last battle, didn't you?"

Selina didn't reply, and Raven went on. "There was a lot of speculation as to who the 'mystery woman' was in that battle," Raven explained. "Your picture's pretty well known now. But nobody could figure out your name."

"Well," Selina replied, "I'd prefer to keep it that way, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Raven quickly replied. "Trust me, I'm knee deep in all of this now too. I have no reason to tell anyone anything."

Selina nodded. "How's that going, by the way? The last time Blake was here he was pretty broken up about you guys."

"It's better," she replied. "Much better. But not perfect. I could use some tips on how to have a healthy, stable relationship with a vigilante."

Selina laughed. "Well, I don't know how much I can help you, but I can try."

* * *

After the ceremony, Molly announced that if someone helped her, she'd make dinner at Bruce and Selina's house for everyone, and they all agreed rather enthusiastically. Everyone got to Cat's Cay safely, and though the night was a great one and Selina loved how happy Bruce looked to have all of the people he cared about around him, celebrating his daughter, she couldn't fight the way her father wormed his way back into her thoughts.

She endured dinner, playing it all off, but tiring quite quickly of everyone's presence. She kept her mouth shut for Bruce's sake, however, and after giving Helena her own little "dinner", she gave her to Bruce and told him she would be outside if he needed her. He nodded, giving her that look that told her that he knew something was up and wanted to know what it was, but she simply gave him a quick kiss and then darted off to solitude. He didn't even notice how she swiped the piece of paper that she'd given to him earlier from his pocket.

The sun had set awhile ago, but the moon was full and casting a glow over the ocean as Selina walked down from their deck and across the sand, stopping a few inches from where the softly rushing waves were hitting the shore. She sat down and took a deep breath, finally letting her guard down and letting her thoughts take control.

She thought back on the first ten years of her life, those perfect, innocent years, where she'd had both of her parents and been happy. When Helena had been alive and Russell had been loving and sweet - and sober. She'd adored him back then. She'd adored them both so much it made her chest ache to think about it.

But, Helena died, and Russell lost it. Completely. Slowly at first, but completely. And those couple of years of living with a drunk, abusive psycho had changed her irrevocably, and turned her heart to stone when it came to her father.

So he was finally dying - so what? He could have been dead all of these years and she never would have known, and it wouldn't have made a difference.

So what was so different now?

She looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. What could she possibly gain form talking to the bastard as he lay on his deathbed? She knew it would cause nothing but pain that she didn't want. Reopen a long-closed wound and rub some salt in it for good measure.

It was masochistic. And yet, she still found herself dialing the numbers on her cell phone.

It rang about five times before there was an answer. Then there was a pause and a weak "Hello?"

She swallowed and felt her heart suddenly thud in her chest at the sound of his voice. She regretted this already. She decided to hang up.

"Selina?"

She froze. It was too late. Hanging up would be cowardly anyway, and she was no coward. "Hey, Dad."

There was a long pause and a wheezing breath on the other end. "It's really you?"

"Yep," she replied, voice somehow steady. "I heard you're in bad shape."

"Yeah," he rasped. "Finally all caught up to me, I guess."

She was trembling, and it had nothing to do with the cool night air. "Can't say you don't deserve it."

"I know. I know I do."

She closed her eyes. "I don't know why I called."

"I'm glad you did. I'm sorry, Selina. I'm sorry for everything. I..."

He broke down, and she clenched her jaw as she felt tears forming behind her eyes.

"I hate myself. So bad. I know where I'm going when I die, and I know I deserve it. I deserve every second of it."

She stayed silent, leaning her head on her hand, not bothering to try to fight the tears that were starting to flow.

"I hope I didn't ruin your life."

She sniffed. "You did for awhile. But I overcame it."

"Are you still here? In Gotham?"

"No. I live on an island now. A real island. In the Caribbean. And I have a man who loves me. And I just had a baby three weeks ago."

"Oh, Selina..."

She was crying full-force now. "And I run a women's shelter. I help moms and little kids who are going through what I went through with you."

She could hear him crying on the other end. It was awhile before he spoke again. "You're happy?"

"I'm happier than I ever thought I could be," she replied, finding a freedom in the words that she hadn't expected. Standing here, in her present, speaking to the hell of her past, she could see how high she had risen from the pit of her early life. And she may as well have been a damn skyscraper now.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "You'll never know how sorry I am."

"No, I won't," she said. "How can you hurt your kid? I mean, how did you do it? I look at my baby and... I just have no idea how you could have done everything that you did. I still have the scar on my head where you split it open on the counter."

"I don't know," he said, his voice weak with despair. "I'll never know. Not a day's gone by where I don't wonder how I became what I am. I love you, Selina. And I won't ask you to forgive me."

"Good, because I can't," she replied.

"I can't either," he muttered.

She took a deep breath and wiped her cheeks, pausing before she spoke again. "I named her Helena. My baby."

He couldn't seem to get coherent enough to reply. Then he started coughing violently. When he calmed down, she spoke again. "She's going to have a great life. And a great father. She's going to have everything I never had."

She was reaching her limit, and she could feel it. She'd have to hang up soon.

"I'm proud of you," he rasped out.

She didn't want his pride.

"I've tried to find out where you were, what you were doing, but I've never been able to find anything. I always feared the worst. I can't tell you how thankful I am that you called. I don't deserve it. But thank you."

"You'll get what you do deserve soon enough," Selina replied tersely.

"I know."

There was a long silence, and then he spoke one last time. "I love you."

She closed her eyes. "Goodbye."

She then hung up. She dropped her phone into the sand and stared out into the black horizon, hugging her arms to her chest to fight the chill of the night. The wound may have been reopened, but there was no salt rubbed into it. Instead, she saw it for what it was - a scar, a piece of her history that had shaped her and plunged her into darkness for years, but one that hadn't defeated her. Or defined her.

* * *

By the time she got herself together and walked back inside of her house, she found it empty of the guests that had been in it only an hour or so ago. She walked to her bedroom and found Bruce sitting in their bed, Helena lying asleep next to him, and she smiled a little when their gazes met.

He didn't say anything as she made her way to the bed. Instead of taking Helena's other side, she walked to Bruce's side and scooted in when he made room for her. Then she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his chest, then closed her eyes.

He ran a hand through her hair and kissed the top of her head. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I am. Surprisingly."

"Leslie told me about your father. Well, I forced it out of her. But she told me."

"I called him," Selina said. "I'm still not sure why I did."

"Closure," Bruce said.

"Yeah."

Then Helena unexpectedly let out a good, loud cry. Selina sat up and peered at her, then crawled over Bruce and grabbed the baby, settling in on her usual side and quickly getting Helena to her breast. It didn't hurt as much now, and it was amazing how quickly it made Helena happy. She was glad she'd stuck with it.

"You can tell me about him if you'd like," Bruce said as Helena sucked away. "It might help."

It could, she thought. Bruce didn't know a lot about Russell, only what he did that made Selina run away. "I might want to."

Bruce nodded, and a comfortable silence fell as the moments passed. She was lost in thought, and when Helena popped off and opened her hazel eyes and looked around brightly, Selina snapped out of it some and smiled down at the little girl.

"Hey there," she grinned, picking her up so that Helena's face was level with her own. "Gonna wake up for awhile?"

To her astonishment, Helena stared into her eyes and then cracked a smile. It wasn't just any smile, it was a big smile, and it was her very first one.

Selina's jaw dropped and she started laughing. "Oh my God!"

Bruce had seen it all, and he started laughing and smiling with her. Selina looked at him, beaming, and then looked back at Helena, who then cracked another smile.

Selina pulled Helena close, holding her so that her little head was on Selina's shoulder, and when she looked at Bruce again, she almost started crying all over again. Except this time, the tears she was fighting weren't sad ones.

She was home, she was whole, and she had a family. And at the end of the day, that was all that mattered. It was all that would ever matter.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: aaaand here we have borderline PWP! Really long borderline PWP! Well, it's not entirely pointless, as there is decently important dialogue, and I always attempt to keep the smut meaningful... because otherwise it's just shallow and who wants to read that? So hopefully this isn't shallow. :) Now, addressing a few things from the reviews... To a guest reviewer who asked about Selina's comment of knowing Leslie "for years": in YLBIP, when I introduced Leslie in the story, I wrote her as being Alfred's girlfriend and Selina's old friend that she'd known for years, and helped get food and supplies to during Bane's occupation. Normally Leslie is portrayed in fics as Bruce's old friend or Thomas Wayne's old colleague, and that works but Bruce already has Alfred and I wanted Selina to have her own semi-parent figure. Sorry for the confusion, sometimes I forget I need to explain things in this story that the previous one set up :) and then to another guest reviewer who said something about misrepresenting religion... sorry, I did my best, and I did do my research on christening ceremonies. I did sort of overlook a few things I read, like the fact of a godparent needing to do a class and prepare beforehand, so it might not have been realistic for Blake to be surprised at the last minute. But otherwise I was very careful to try to get it right. I'm a Christian but I've never been to a christening, so it was important to me to try to get it right. Can't please everyone though, I guess. Oh well! Thanks to the rest of you for being fabulous as always! And I hope this chapter does not disappoint! :)**

It had been a very long day, and by the time Selina got off work, saw her doctor for her six-week check up and got herself home, she fell into her bed with Helena and fell asleep within mere moments.

It was only three o clock in the afternoon, but naps had become a thing of habit for the new mother in recent weeks. She'd never been one for naps but then she'd discovered how sage the oft-given advice of "sleep when the baby sleeps" really was. Between work and Helena, Selina was the busiest she'd ever been in her life, and Bruce wasn't faring much better. But the good news was, they'd finally nailed down something of a routine, and slowly but surely, they were getting the hang of their new lives.

Helena no longer slept all of her days away, but she still took three naps a day that were divided by periods of cheerful alertness that showed off her blooming personality. She was a happy but impatient baby, perfectly content until she became hungry or uncomfortable, and an ear-piercing wail would immediately alert her parents to her distress. She'd lost her newborn look and could now mostly hold up her own head, which enhanced her "growing baby" look, and though both parents were shocked at how fast she was growing, they loved the watching the almost daily changes in her every day.

Selina normally napped with Helena during the afternoon and would wake to make dinner when Bruce came home for the day, which was usually just before 5, but today she woke up at 5:30 and immediately realized that Helena wasn't lying next to her as she had been.

She immediately sat up and looked around frantically, only to find Bruce sitting near the edge of the bed, wearing a relaxed smile. He reached out and put a hand over one of hers. "Calm down. It's fine."

"Where is she?" Selina asked, her heart rate slowing down fractionally.

"She's with Alfred," he replied.

Selina blinked and then let her eyes drift downward, noting how Bruce looked as if he were about to hit the town. He was in one of his black suits, black shirt underneath unbuttoned at the top, and his hair - which needed another cut soon - was tousled and had that effortlessly-gorgeous vibe about it. This was opposed to Selina's tangled hair and work clothes that she hadn't bothered changing out of. "Why does Alfred have her? And why are you dressed up?"

"I'm taking you out tonight," Bruce replied. "Go get ready. Reservation's in forty five minutes."

"But why..." she stopped short, her sleep-muddled brain finally remembering that her check-up had taken place today. Bruce watched the realization flicker across her face and grinned. She half-smiled back and said, "Oh."

"Go get ready," Bruce repeated, sliding off the bed and getting to his feet. She waited until he walked out of their room and all but bounded to her closet, feeling strange without Helena at her side and especially strange about the idea of a night without her - this would be the first time she was separated from Helena for more than an hour - but a rush of excitement wasn't far behind the anxiety.

When she opened the closet, she found something hanging in the front of her side that hadn't been there before. It was covered in a dark black zip-up bag, and when she pulled the zipper down in curiosity, she grinned at what she found underneath.

Black, lace-trimmed dress, plunging neckline, intricate design, hem that looked like it would fall somewhere above her knees. She took it down and headed towards her bed with it, wondering how long Bruce had been planning for this day and what exactly he had in mind for tonight besides dinner and the obvious.

For once, though, she thought, the obvious was undoubtedly going to be the best part.

* * *

Conversation was light as they made their way to Nassau a short time later, but Selina could hear the strain in Bruce's voice and see it behind his eyes. It was taking the kind of rigid self control that only the League of Shadows could have instilled in him to keep himself from pouncing on her long before they got to the restaurant, or even before they left the house, especially considering the dress that he'd bought for her. It fit her perfectly and she pulled it off well, having lost a little over 25 pounds in the last six weeks due to her self-imposed, maniacal, early morning workouts. She still had some more to lose before she reached her goal but she didn't look pregnant anymore, and she didn't despise her reflection as much now. She felt good tonight, especially when she'd catch a glimpse of Bruce eyeing her as he drove them to their first destination.

He took her to a place they'd never been before, an upscale restaurant near the harbor of the city. A valet was waiting to take the car when he pulled up to the doors, and when he came around to open her door for her, it was with another look that made Selina's anticipation grow.

As the valet drove off, Bruce took her hand in his and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. "Like the dress?"

"I do," she replied as they walked up the few stairs towards the doors. "You have good taste."

He gave her a smirk as a crisply-suited man opened the door for them, and Selina drew a breath as Bruce spoke to the hostess and then continued to hold her hand as they were led away and up a staircase.

The place was gorgeous - very ritzy, dimly lit, an actual band playing softly somewhere - and it reminded her of the first date Bruce had taken her on in Florence last year. They'd gone to a place much like this one, but had spent most of the dinner alternating between arguing and eating in silence. How far they'd come in such a brief period of time.

They were shown to a private, beautiful little booth upstairs that sat on the far east side of the restaurant and boasted of a wall-length window that overlooked the harbor. The thought crossed Selina's mind to sit across from him at the table, just far away enough to be out of his reach and thus torture him, but he slid on to the seats first and pulled her until she was seated next to him, only centimeters separating them.

A male server came to give them their menus and ask what drinks they wanted, and Selina noticed how the man looked at her for a split second before smiling politely at Bruce and refraining from looking at her again. It was a nice little added boost of confidence for a woman who'd given birth for the first time less than two months ago, but she didn't really need it. Bruce had that aspect of things covered already.

When the man was gone, Bruce opened his menu but Selina quickly turned towards him and pulled him into a kiss, her hands on the lapels of his jacket, holding him in place.

It started slow and controlled but turned into something different when Bruce shifted his body into hers, brought his hand to her face and became the aggressor, kissing her in a way he hadn't since before she cared to remember. Weeks of celibacy and exhaustion had kept them from this, besides occasional stolen moments here and there like the one in the shower when Helena was a week old, but those moments were nothing like what they were used to and barely satisfying.

Though he'd been the one to turn their kiss deep and frantic, Bruce was also the one who broke away from it first. He grinned as he caught his breath and said, "Sorry... I do plan on making it through dinner without... well..."

"Don't be sorry," she said, still holding him close as her fingers played with the just slightly-too long ends of his hair. "I think we both know the real reason you're doing this tonight."

"Do you?" he grinned. "Because I have several reasons."

"I can think of one very obvious reason," she replied.

"I'm sure," he said. "But today's date is another one."

She paused. What was today, again? April something? "Today's date?"

He nodded. "Coincidentally enough, one year ago today... I broke into your apartment."

Realization dawned on her, and she could hardly believe it. Had it really only been one year? Enough had taken place to fill up five years, maybe even more. She certainly wouldn't have believed this day a year ago that she'd be sitting here now, the mother of Bruce's child, and she definitely wouldn't have expected that she'd be particularly happy about it. She also never imagined she'd love Bruce as unbelievably deeply as she did.

"... Damn."

Bruce grinned. "I don't know exactly when we officially began... whatever it was that we did," he said, "so I figured I'd just count that day as our anniversary."

"Anniversary," she repeated. "See, I would count from... well..." She stopped, genuinely deep in thought for a moment. "I actually have no idea."

"I thought maybe when we went back to Gotham," Bruce said. "That was when I realized how committed you really were, to go back there with me. Or, I thought before that, when you let me move in with you."

"Let's just stick with that first day," Selina decided. "Because I have no clue."

"Sounds good," Bruce replied, before the server came back.

Selina moved to finally take a glance at her menu, but Bruce started ordering before she could get past the appetizer portion. Yep, she thought, this was just like their first date.

When the server had left, Selina raised an eyebrow at Bruce, who gave a sheepish grin. "I know you hate it when I order for you. Sorry. But trust me, I know you, and I know your taste." He gestured to her dress.

She rolled her eyes. "Right. You only picked this because you knew I couldn't wear a bra with it."

"Not true," he protested, but she saw the playful glint in his eye.

"Not saying I mind," she said, her hand finding his leg. "So, what's on the agenda after dinner? I assume you aren't taking me home for awhile."

He shook his head. "We won't be going home until morning."

"Ah... hotel then?" she ventured, his eyes on her hand as it crept further up his leg.

"I get the feeling you're not very interested in making it through dinner," he said, taking her hand in his to get it away from his thigh.

"Actually, I'm starving," she said, untangling her hand from his and placing it on his chest, under his jacket but over his shirt. "I'm just starving more for you."

He was playing it cool, but she could see how hard it was for him. She'd been able to tell in his kiss, and she could see it now in his eyes and hear it in his breath. She brought her lips to his neck and felt him stiffen, felt his pulse quicken as she moved over the fluttering vein, heard his breath hitch when she kissed just under his ear. Her hand moved up and over his chest, pushed aside his jacket to where it was half-off of his shoulder, and then slid up to his neck. She felt his hand come to rest on her hip just before she guided his face towards hers with her fingers on his chin, and she looked into his eyes, letting her lips hover a breath away from his slightly parted ones.

He gave in, leaning forward and capturing her lips in a bruising kiss, taking her fully into his arms and crushing her against him. He hadn't been able to hold her like that for a long time, having had to be mindful of her belly for so long, and a sense of freedom overcame him at the thought of not having to hold back anymore.

He almost let himself get carried away with that thought, especially when he tilted her head back to further taste her mouth and she let out a soft moan. They were secluded enough to not bother anyone with their actions, but he vaguely remembered that their server would be coming back around with their food any minute, _vaguely_ being the key word.

Her hair was up in a quickly-thrown together twist, but he wanted to feel it between his fingers the way hers were with his, so he moved his lips to her neck and began a ruthless assault there as his fingers plucked out the lone, long pin holding her hair up, letting her long dark hair cascade over her shoulders and down her back.

"Aw, Bruce," she whined, giving his own hair a tug.

He let his tongue run over her sensitive skin, tasting her one more time and making her take a sharp breath before he pulled away and looked up at her. "I like your hair down."

"I like it up," she replied. Her cheeks were flushed and her already dark brown eyes seemed even darker somehow.

He tilted his head a little, then moved his hand from her waist and found the ends of her hair. She had yet to cut it once since becoming pregnant, and it was beautifully long now, reaching her waist, and loved it like that. He moved his hand up through her hair until it was close to her scalp, then fisted a handful of it and gave her a gentle yank.

"If it's up," he said, breath dancing across her lips as he held her head back by her hair, "then I can't do _that_."

She didn't reply, opting instead to grab him and pull him down for another kiss. He released her hair and she sprang up, taking control and all but shoving him back against the back of the seat. One of her legs curled around one of his, and he let her do as she pleased, wholly forgetting where they were for the moment.

Her fingers started unbuttoning his shirt as her lips moved to his ear. "We should have skipped dinner."

That managed to remind him of where they were enough to make him chuckle and put an end to her efforts to undress him. "Probably."

She bit his ear lobe, he groaned, and she whispered, "I can get under the table if you'd like."

"Don't tempt me," he grunted back, his hands moving to her hips. One of them slid down until his fingers touched the hem of her dress.

"Why not?" she asked, drawing back and looking at him devilishly.

His fingers slipped under the lace-tipped fabric, slowly and not over-daringly until her hand grabbed it and moved it up higher. "Because I might want to actually come back to this restaurant some day and we can't if they... _God_, you're not wearing anything under there."

She grinned. "What can I say. I came prepared."

"You're killing me," he said, hand falling between her thighs but staying at a safe distance, wanting to cross the line but managing not to somehow.

Selina didn't care about the line, however, and skipped merrily over it as she brought her own hand down to him, grasping him through his pants, swallowing his sound of surprise with a hasty kiss. He was hard, of course, and had been for awhile, and she tortured him, rubbing just enough to make him squirm but not give any real relief.

"Stop," he said breathlessly, tearing his lips away, "Selina, stop."

She didn't stop. If he'd actually wanted her to, she thought, he would have just batted her hand away, but he didn't. "Where's the fun in that?"

He laughed breathlessly, then they heard a noise that made them jump apart simultaneously. It turned out to be their server clanking up the staircase below with their food, saving them from the embarrassment of being interrupted during their previous position. Bruce straightened out jacket and tried to fix the buttons on his shirt while Selina pulled down her dress, but it didn't help much. As soon as the waiter walked into their booth and got a look at their flushed faces, heaving chests and highly mussed heads of hair, he had to fight the urge to laugh as he set their plates down in front of them.

"Anything else I can get you?" the young man asked.

Bruce glanced at Selina and then looked up at the waiter. "Actually, can we get this to go? And the check?"

The man couldn't contain the chuckle this time. "Sure thing. I was about to offer that option, actually."

"Thanks," Bruce replied, deciding that the boy would get a good tip.

As he left the booth again to fetch the boxes and check, Bruce looked at Selina, who smiled in relief. "Thank God."

Bruce chuckled. "I don't know how I'm going to walk out of here like this."

"I'll walk in front of you," she assured him, patting his leg. "Unless you wanted to find a bathroom or... storage closet. Or something."

He laughed and brushed his hair back with his fingers, shifting uncomfortably for obvious and easily seen reasons. "Just walk in front of me really closely."

* * *

Selina may have been a woman on a mission, but she was also now a mother, and that meant multitasking both physically and mentally.

"Can you call Alfred to check on Helena?" she asked Bruce as he drove them to the hotel. By the set of his jaw he looked like he might be in pain, but he nodded and pulled out his phone.

Helena was, of course, perfectly fine, and that put Selina's mind at ease as they pulled into the beachfront hotel Bruce had gotten them a room at. She could then place her undivided attention on Bruce and the rest of the night's events.

After Bruce pulled up to the doors and waited for a valet to assist them, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Selina watched him curiously, confused by the look of utmost concentration on his face.

"Bruce?"

He held up a hand to her. A moment or two later he opened his eyes and smiled brightly. The valet happened to appear at the same moment. "All right. Let's go."

Her confused expression deepened until she glanced down at his pants and what he'd been doing dawned on her. "That's... impressive."

"I have impeccable self-control when I want to," Bruce replied, slipping out of the car.

He carried their dinners while they walked inside of the hotel, wasting no time to approach the front desk and check in.

The woman behind the desk, a young one with a deep island accent, looked up their reservation on the computer in front of her and then said, "Mr. Wayne, it looks like we weren't expecting you for another hour. Your suite isn't quite ready yet."

"How much longer until it is?" he asked, masking the irritation in his voice. Beside him, Selina suppressed a groan.

"I'll call and ask," the woman smiled before picking up the phone and dialing a short number.

Bruce waited impatiently as she spoke to the cleansing crew in the room he'd reserved. After a moment she covered the mouthpiece with her hand and said, "They say it's mostly ready but they still need to clean some of the windows and fix an issue with the television."

Bruce sighed in relief and smiled as he said, "Tell them not to worry about that. I need the room now."

"Yes sir," the girl replied before relaying the message to the cleaning crew.

A moment later she gave him the room key, and he and Selina headed to the elevators. Their room lay on the top floor, of course, and it was a long ride, but thankfully, they made the trip alone.

Selina gave him a sideways glance as they stood against the back wall of the elevator. His eyes were fixed on the display above the doors that counted the floors as they ascended, and she wondered what was on his mind. She wondered what he planned on doing to her tonight, and how many times, if they'd even leave the hotel still standing by the time morning came.

The doors then opened and snapped her out of her thoughts, and he led her wordlessly to their destination. The cleaning crew had gone, and when he slid the card into the slot above the doorknob and swung the door open, he let Selina walk inside first.

It was what she'd expected for an overpriced hotel penthouse - spacious, stocked, modern, clean, a view to die for. Bruce had stuck their dinners inside the room's small refrigerator in record time, appearing empty handed at her side a moment later.

She looked up at him, feeling suddenly overheated and somehow... nervous.

"Give me a minute," she said, turning and sprinting to the bathroom.

Once she actually located the bathroom and stepped inside of it, she closed the door behind her and took a deep breath. She hadn't felt nervous back at the restaurant, and she couldn't understand the sudden sense of overwhelming heat that had come over her as soon as they had gotten alone. She rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror and then took a drink of water from the sink before she heard a soft knock at the door.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

He opened the door and peered in, finding Selina in front of the mirror, flushed and holding her hair back behind her neck. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head as he walked inside the bathroom. "No."

She looked at him, noticing that he'd shed his jacket and had never fully rebuttoned his shirt, and she knew where her sudden anxiety had come from. She had no idea how childbirth would change things physically, if they'd change them at all, but now she was about to find out. And what if it was different, and what if he didn't like it? What if it wasn't as good for him as it was before?

She cursed herself for not asking her doctor about this earlier today. _Whatever_.

"Then come on," he said, gesturing to the huge room outside of the door, and holding out his hand for her to take.

She took his hand and let him lead her away. The sun was setting outside, and the sky was a brilliant array of colors out of their window, pretty enough to catch her eye before he stopped them in front of the room's enormous bed and turned towards her. He brushed her hair behind her ear and remarked, "You couldn't keep yourself off of me at dinner, and now you're acting almost... awkward."

She sighed. "I'm fine. Really."

"You're nervous. Like you were back when Helena was first born and didn't want to take a shower with me."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you always have to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Be all super observant and determined to talk about everything," she replied. "I just pushed a human being out of my body six weeks ago. _Yes_, I'm a little bit nervous. Not a lot, but a little bit."

"Don't be," he said gently, his hand still near her face, stroking just above her jaw with his thumb. Then he pulled her towards the bed. "Come here. I'll help you relax."

She let him sit her down on the bed, then reached down to slip the heels off of her feet.

"Mind keeping those on?" he asked softly as he shifted behind her on the bed.

She turned her head to shoot him a perplexed and amused glance. "Really? Want me to dig my four-inch heels into your back later?"

He chuckled as he swept her hair to the side and tossed it over her right shoulder. "I just haven't seen you in heels for awhile. I like them on you."

Then his hands were on her shoulders, and he started massaging her lightly. He hadn't forgotten that she'd worked all day, nor that she'd been working six days a week for the last two weeks, and the evidence was there in knots under her flesh. She groaned and sagged as he started working the tension out, alternating pressure from light to hard when necessary, pulling down the straps of her dress to her mid-shoulder to work more efficiently.

When the knots were gone he slowed down his hands to a more sensual touch, running them down her arms as he pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. He felt her shiver, relished it, and brought his hands back up, using one of them to tilt her head to the side so he could lean forward and kiss her.

She reached her hand into his hair and pulled him closer as they kissed, and she felt butterflies in her stomach as strong as the ones she'd felt on this day a year ago. She hoped it would never change, turning her body around, bringing her legs up on the bed as he scooted back to make room for her, never breaking their kiss. The burning need was back, hitting her hard and unforgivingly, freeing her mind of the burden of thinking as she finished her earlier task of ridding him of his shirt.

She tried to push him down on the bed but it wasn't happening. He broke their kiss and gave her a burning look, one that caused another burst of butterflies within her, and then flipped her down on her back without a word.

He assaulted her neck, reveling in being able to press his full weight down on her now, his hands pulling down the top of her dress further the lower his mouth trailed. It ended up bunched around her waist for awhile while he worked her up, taking his time getting to know her body all over again, as if it had been six months rather than six weeks.

He kissed her stomach as he pulled off her dress fully, leaving it to fall somewhere on the floor as he returned to his task. He looked up at her, finding her eyes closed but body relaxed still, her face a mess with bits of her hair lying over it, and he found himself moving back up her body. She opened her eyes as he brushed her errant hair aside with gentle fingers, looking upon her in a way that made her chest lurch.

He kissed her gently, lovingly, much differently from the way the rougher side of him wanted to, but he was in control and wanted her to know how beautiful and perfect she was to him.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips, looking into her eyes.

She touched his face, meaning it with all she had in her when she whispered back, "I love you too."

He kissed her again, and one of his still-clothed legs - she really needed to do something about that - nudged hers apart to make room for his hand. She closed her eyes and grabbed on to his hair at his touch, and he kissed her neck as he rubbed her gently, getting her as ready as he could, pulling away to watch her face after a few moments.

She gasped when he slipped a finger inside of her, and her eyes opened in time to see something flicker across his face. He was staring off somewhere else, his brows just barely knitting together, and she started panicking. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Nothing... you're just... _really_ tight."

Now that he mentioned it...

_Ah, crap_, she thought. _This is going to hurt like a bitch_. And here she'd been terrified of things being too loose.

But then he kissed her cheek and withdrew his hand, whispering, "I'll get you ready. Don't worry."

Anxiety made everything worse, and could turn mild, fleeting pain into serious pain. He knew that, and he decided to treat her like a virgin tonight. He'd keep her from focusing on the moment or two of pain by eliminating her ability to think at all beforehand, and hopefully, that would be all she needed.

He was almost in pain again - he wondered how much more of this waiting he could take before he'd just die - but he held it together and worked his way down her body again, stopping at the tops of her thighs, not allowing himself to rush through it as much as he might want to for his own sake. He kissed down her inner thigh, making her twitch in anticipation, holding her other one flat with his hand, glancing up at her before he began his assault.

He loved the immediate trembling, the stiffening and the stifled moans, letting them spur him on as he tasted her, making her hold on to her own hair and the sheet under her, putting the idea of impending discomfort as far away from her mind as possible.

His mouth worked feverishly, his own body dying for its turn, its relief, and she didn't make him wait long - she grabbed his hair when she fell apart with a great quake, holding on like she might slip away and be lost forever if he didn't anchor her to earth.

After a parting kiss, he looked up and saw her lying limp against the pillows and sheets, her eyes closed and breasts heaving up and down as she panted, and this was his window of opportunity. He quickly - and finally - lost his remaining clothes, and then returned to her.

Her legs were like jelly, shaking a little bit, and he was nice enough to remove her high heels for her, but she didn't notice. He settled back down on top of her, and her weakened arms wrapped around his neck, and she spread her legs for him.

He kissed her lips and pushed into her, and immediately nearly went cross-eyed. She was tight, unbelievably so, and though he heard her hiss of pain, all he felt was the most pleasurable sensation of being strangled to death that he could imagine.

He stopped quickly, however, to give both himself and her a minute. "You okay?" he asked, his voice straining so hard she might have thought he was in immense pain.

"Yeah," she lied. "You?"

"No," he replied with a tight smile. "This is going to kill me."

"In a good way, right?"

"Yeah," he grunted before he let himself move again. She hissed again and her grip tightened around his neck, but he didn't stop. This was the worst part for her, and pushing through was the best thing he could do for her.

She started matching his movements, gritting her teeth, determined to adjust and enjoy this, and slowly but surely, the sting began to fade. Then he halted for a moment, held up her left leg with his hand, shifted his hips and gave a full thrust, and this time, she let out a soft moan.

"Better?" he asked against her ear.

"Much," she replied, feeling him hitting all the right places, even if he was now an extremely tight fit. "Faster."

She didn't have to tell him twice. He grunted and picked up the pace, letting go of her leg to plant his hand down on the mattress to support himself, kissing her lips as she enthusiastically thrust up her hips to meet him, over the initial pain and incredibly happy to have this back again, after abstaining as long as they did. She watched the muscles in his arms and chest flex with his movements, looked up into his face when his forehead rested against here, noted the veins around his closed eyes and how they always sharpened and appeared when he was really working hard. He really was beautiful, and she grinned when he opened his eyes and caught her staring.

He didn't say anything but he kissed her again, panting as he moved faster and faster, eventually moving his lips to her neck again, almost losing it when he heard her moan against his ear. Her nails were scratching down his back and he knew she was about to go again, felt her start to clench and heard her hold her breath - she did that right before sometimes, he noticed - and then there it was, the telltale shaking and whimpering that became another moan as she came. He followed soon after, finding it nearly euphoric after his long, patient wait - not just today but over the last month and a half - and he moaned louder than even she did.

They lay unmoving for some time after, relieved and satisfied and surprised, and when Bruce finally managed to roll away from her, she immediately missed him. Tomorrow they'd go back to the routine, and she was fine with that, but for now, she didn't want to miss a second of this.

She pulled him back and he held her, smiling softy as his eyes met hers. She broke the comfortable silence first.

"You know... I wish you'd been my first time," she said, her hand resting on his chest. "You would have made it good."

"I do my best," he replied, grinning. "You hungry yet?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

"Me neither."

She smiled. "Although I do see a bucket with champagne over there. I might be interested in that."

He glanced over at a table not far away from the bed and replied, "Yeah... there's some kind of chocolate covered strawberries or cherries or something that came with it. Want some?"

"Yes, actually," she replied, then she paused. "Wait... I can't have champagne."

"You can," Bruce said, sitting up. He got out of bed and she watched, enjoying the view. "I looked it up. You can drink a little bit while nursing. And you're especially safe tonight. It'll be out of your system by morning."

"How thoughtful of you to look that up," she grinned as he picked up the bucket and a platter of the fruit - it turned out to be strawberries - and brought them over to the nightstand on his side of the bed.

After he crawled into bed and haphazardly threw a sheet across them both, he produced one champagne flute, and Selina said, "I'm not drinking any of that unless you drink some with me."

He eyed her but shrugged. "Fine. I don't mind champagne."

Two pourings later, he handed her her glass and held on to his as she grinned at him. "To us, I guess. And our first anniversary."

He grinned back, and they both took a sip of the sparkling liquid. She hadn't had any alcohol in so long, and she loved the taste of champagne - it was the authentic, ridiculously expensive French kind - and she gulped it all down in about one minute.

"Slow down there," Bruce chided, taking her glass from her to refill it. "I don't want you drunk."

"Don't worry about that," she replied, taking the full glass back from him. "I don't either."

Bruce was satisfied with half of his glass, and he set it aside and grabbed the platter from the nightstand. He put it on the bed, between them, and said conversationally, "So... how was your day?"

Selina chuckled. "It was long. Thanks for letting me have my nap earlier."

"No problem," he said, picking up one of the strawberries by its long stem and bringing it to Selina's lips. She bit into it delicately, watching him as he brought the rest of it to his own mouth and finished it. "Alfred was quite excited to have Helena for tonight. He said he couldn't believe it took me this long to, in his words, 'pawn her off' on him."

"I miss her," Selina said. "I mean, I love this, but I still miss her."

"So do I," Bruce replied. "But we needed this."

"I agree."

A silence fell for a few moments before Bruce broke it, his tone tentative as he asked, "How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your father..." he trailed off when her expression instantly numbed. Her father had passed away the very day after she called him that night on the beach. She'd taken the news stoically, and he knew she was fine, but he was sure it still affected her on some level.

"I'm fine, Bruce," she replied. "He was dead to me for years. It's not a dramatic transition."

"Still a transition," Bruce said gently.

Selina shrugged, eyeing the silver saucer at the middle of the platter. She removed the lid and found extra chocolate to dip in. "Honestly... my father died with my mother. The man he became after that was not my father."

Bruce nodded. "I understand. I've seen how death can... change a man. Grief can turn men into monsters."

"I look at it this way to keep from being bitter," Selina sighed. "If I hadn't been the best thief in Gotham, our paths would have never crossed. And I'd still be there, stealing necklaces and fencing cars to get by. And I never would have been a thief if my life hadn't gone to shit. Not saying I'm thankful for what he did, because I'm not. It just is what it is. And I managed to end up happy by some miracle. It all worked out. So I shouldn't be bitter."

Bruce paused halfway through a strawberry. He'd never expected words like that out of Selina's mouth. "That's... good."

"Don't sound so surprised," she chided.

He shrugged, grinning just a bit. "You're wiser than you think, Selina."

She paused and looked him over, her eyes soft. They were both leaning against the headboard of the bed, still undressed, and the platter didn't put much space between them. Her voice was gentle as she said, "I really do wish you had been my first time."

He let a moment pass before he said, "You've never told me about your first time."

"Not much to tell," she replied, the edge back in her voice. "You know I was thirteen. And you know who it was with. That's really all there is to know."

"I'm sorry," Bruce said. The thought of Marcus Michaels, child pimp and scum of the earth, touching Selina was almost too much for him to handle. Let alone the fact that he'd touched her not once but many times all through her teenage years.

"So am I," she muttered, shoving another strawberry in her mouth. "I hated sex for years, you know. Because of him. And then even after I struck out on my own... it was just one night stands with guys who didn't know what they were doing. I was considering giving girls a try, that's how desperate I got."

"Then?"

"... Then I met someone who did know what he was doing. He was a thief like me. We went after the same diamonds on the same night."

"Glamorous," Bruce replied. When she rolled her eyes he said, "No, really. Sounds like something from a novel or... soap opera."

Selina laughed. "If you say so. What about you? Your first time? I know about the college professor thing, but not your first time."

"Professor's assistant," he corrected. "And it was... well, I was sixteen. I was in a boys' boarding school so there weren't many girls around, obviously."

"So... let me guess... one of your friend's families visited one day... and you met his sister?"

"Cousin," Bruce grimaced. "And they weren't visiting, they actually lived in the same city, which was strange, but... anyway. It was awful. No clue what I was doing. Over in like two minutes. Every cliche you can imagine."

Selina laughed heartily, she couldn't help herself, and Bruce laughed with her. "That _is_ awful. Poor little teenaged Bruce Wayne... I'm glad you outgrew those... issues."

"Me too," he chuckled. "If I hadn't, I doubt you would have stuck with me this long."

"I would have whipped you into shape," Selina replied, dipping a strawberry into some of the extra chocolate. Then she shook off the excess and brought it to Bruce's lips, and his eyes stayed on hers as he took a slow bite.

She grinned at the little bit of chocolate that lingered at the corner of his mouth. She pointed to her own mouth and said, "You've got a little... something..."

He tried to get it with his tongue but it was still there, so she shook her head and said, "I'll get it." Then she leaned forward across the small space between them and licked it off with the tip of her tongue.

He gave her a look that she knew very well as she pulled away, a smirk on her lips, and before she had time to even notice, he picked up the little saucer of chocolate and dripped it over her chest.

"Oops," he murmured, his eyes playful, and then he swooped down and licked off each drop. She giggled, unabashedly, and he grinned when he brought his head back up and kissed her.

"We'll never get around to dinner now," she smiled as he leaned back against the headboard, taking the platter and setting it aside. Then he put his hand on her belly, running over it to her side and then down to her hip.

"Why's that?"

"Because the chocolate ruined one of my appetites," she purred.

"How about the other one?"

"Didn't hurt it," she said before capturing his lips.

She was the aggressor this time, and she kissed him deeply as they lay facing one another, the sheet barely covering their legs at this point. He tasted like a cocktail of the things they'd been consuming, plus his natural taste that she couldn't describe in words, and he let her take the lead, only roaming her body with his hands and kissing her back fervently.

"Can I ask you a favor, Bruce?" she asked softly, just as her lips left his in favor of his neck.

She started suckling on one of his especially sensitive points on his neck, and he had to force his eyes open to keep them from rolling back in his head. "... What?"

She pulled away and brought her face level with his again. "Can you let go tonight?"

His expression went from dark with growing lust to confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're always so controlled... it's not a bad thing, but... I want to see you just _let go._"

"You mean... do you want me to he rough?" he asked. "I'm not always exactly gentle."

"What I mean is," she said, running her hand down his hard chest and over his abdomen, "I don't want you to think. I don't want you to hold back like you were a few minutes ago."

"I -" her hand suddenly grasped him, and he had to focus hard to form words - "I knew you would... hurt at first..."

She grinned at his labored words, moving her hand languidly along his length. "I know. But it won't hurt this time. I see the look in your eye when we're together and I know you hold back sometimes. I don't know why you do, because you know I can handle it."

He blinked and said, "I don't... you were pregnant... your belly..."

She shut him up with a kiss, then released him now that he was back in peak form and ready for her. "I can take it, Bruce," she said when she pulled away, before dropping her lips down to his chest.

His skin was just a little bit salty from the sweat that had slicked it not long ago, and she savored being able to take her time, knowing the night was young and morning was still quite far away. But he apparently lacked her patience, because as she kissed and tasted the ridges of his abs, his hand came down to tangle in her hair and gently pushed her head down.

She smirked, thinking maybe he _was_ letting go just a little bit, and she happily did as he requested and moved down, taking him in her hands again, looking up and making eye contact as she stroked him lightly. His hand was still in her hair, his eyes were fixed on her and his lips were parted as he breathed heavily through his mouth, waiting for her next move, which came when her tongue flicked out and ran over his tip. Her lips followed, then her mouth, and his head fell back against the headboard as he lost himself in the warmth of her.

He didn't have to guide her - he'd never had to, because apparently she could read his signals and desires like a book - and that left him with nothing to do but drown in her, fist so hard into her hair that he knew it would hurt her, and try not to completely lose it.

But, some part of his brain managed to vaguely register through the pleasure, she'd _wanted_ him to lose it.

He felt himself getting close, she likely knew it as well but she didn't slow down, and he tried saying her name but she ignored him. Just seconds before he would have reached the point of no return, he gave her hair a yank and forced her head away. She looked up at him, a slightly irritated look on her flushed face until she saw his eyes, and then she grinned, because she knew what was coming next.

He let out a growl from the base of his throat and then lunged forward, grabbing her and putting her on her back with a hard thud, her head nearly dangling off the edge of the bed, her feet hitting the pillows at the top of the bed.

"Don't hold back," she said, raising her arms over her head, offering herself to him. He looked at the view she offered, noticed the little smirk still playing on her lips, and he wanted to wipe it off, make her mouth fall open in a fit of wordless pleasure, make her stop looking at him with that smug expression. As if she knew exactly what his next move would be.

He leaned down and grabbed her wrists in his hand, holding them down against the bed in an iron grip, and then he dipped his head down towards hers as if to kiss her. Her eyes closed and her lips parted, but he didn't kiss her, instead keeping his lips just too far away for hers to reach. She opened her eyes and narrowed them at him.

He took his free hand and ran it down her chest, touching her breast as much as he could without overstimulating it, and he grinned as she tried to move, tried to kiss him, and failed.

"Letting go means torture, does it?" Selina asked, eyebrow raised.

"Shut up."

That one took her aback, and a shiver shot down her spine. She gaped at him a little but liked this change. His wandering hand stopped between her legs, of course, and he applied pressure there as he lowered his lips to her ear and said, "Not a word unless its my name, understand?"

She nodded, her gaze meeting his heated, less controlled one, and he let go of her wrists. She didn't move them. He removed his hand and she missed the contact, but then he grabbed her by the thighs and pulled her down the bed until they were perfectly aligned, and he thrust into her without warning.

She wanted to yelp out a string of curses but bit her lip, not wanting to break his rule this early, but he was in deep on his first stroke and she was still so, so tight. It didn't hurt but it was on the thin borderline of pleasure and pain, and she stayed teetering on that line when he thrusted again and again.

She realized her eyes were clamped shut and then opened them, finding his eyes pooling with darkness as they stared down at her. Her nails were digging into the backs of his shoulders - she didn't even remember moving them from above her head - and she visibly shuddered under his gaze. He was powerful, beautiful, a little unhinged and lost, lost in pleasure that was making his arms shake as he held himself up.

_Screw it,_ she thought - she'd lasted as long as she could. She pulled him down to her and forced him to kiss her, and he didn't fight her, kissing her with a tortured grunt as he moved within her. She shifted her lips away from his and whispered into his ear, "Harder."

He groaned and grabbed her hands away from his face and pushed them down on the bed, on either side of her head, covering them with his own and shifting his body for a better angle to pound into her. It was a change she welcomed with a gasp, and he didn't worry about hurting her, didn't think about anything, just let go, and trusted his body to know hers well enough to cause no pain and only pleasure.

She managed to interlock her fingers with his as he pounded her into the mattress, his hair flying back and forth around in his closed eyes in a sweat-dampened curtain, and then he moved a little bit again and hit her just right. She let out a cross between a yell and a moan, making his eyes fly open and fix upon her as she saw nothing but stars.

Over and over drove into her, over and over she couldn't stop from vocalizing what she was feeling, and when his hands left hers to better support himself, she reached up into that dangling hair of his and held on for dear life as she felt the uncoiling begin, like a spring that had been wound to its limit and then snapped.

Her nails dug into his scalp, though he barely felt it, and he watched as she reached her pinnacle for the third time that night with a silent scream, one that was beyond her ability to express, and she pulsed so hard and tightly around him that he reached his end only a moment later, unable to withstand it and not caring to try.

He stayed inside of her as they lay there, backwards on the bed, dazed, a little confused, and on Bruce's part once his senses returned, concerned.

He raised his head from its place resting in the crook of her neck and looked down at her, worry etched in his face. Her hair was ruined, her makeup smeared and eyes closed as she panted, and he quietly asked, "Did I... hurt you?"

She laughed, still not opening her eyes. "That was... the opposite of hurting."

"You sure?" he asked, pushing the hair out of her face and making sure he wasn't crushing her with his weight.

"I told you," she reminded him, looking up at him with her warm brown eyes, "I can take it. I might not be able to walk tomorrow, but I can take it."

He kissed her cheek softly. "I know you can. I just don't always want you to."

"Sometimes," she said, cupping his cheek, "a girl needs some roughness. Not being able to walk isn't always a bad thing." She pushed his hair back flat on his head, being nearly wet enough to slick back, and she got a good, unobstructed look at his face then. "You really are beautiful, you know that?"

"Not as beautiful as you," he replied, tracing the outline of her bottom lip with his thumb.

She shook her head slightly. "It used to hurt me to look at you. For the longest time. I'd get this pain in my chest... I thought there was something actually wrong with me for awhile."

He furrowed his brows and shifted to his side, taking her with them, and then they lay facing each other, still connected in the most intimate of ways. "You never told me that."

She gave a light shrug. "I didn't tell you a lot of things back then."

"And now?"

She smiled. "I tell you most things."

"Most," he repeated. "All right. So tell me the truth. Do you regret any of this?"

"This," she repeated, seeking clarification.

"Us," he said. "Our life together. Decisions we've made. How fast we moved."

"No," she answered without hesitation. "My only regrets involving you all have to do with the crappy way I treat you sometimes. And the obvious."

"Do you still dream about it?" He asked softly. "About... Bane."

"Not since Helena was born," she replied. "But I haven't dreamed at all since then. Not enough consecutive hours of sleep. Why are we suddenly playing 20 questions?"

He shrugged. "Ask me something then."

She paused and thought carefully. "Do you think you'll ever get sick of me? Sick of sleeping with the same woman over and over?"

"First of all," he said, "no. And second... you're not the same woman every time. I never know what I'm going to get, if you're going to want me to make love to you or..." his eyes drifted to the part of the bed he'd just taken her on, "fuck you. Or both."

"I'm a girl of many moods," she grinned. Then she asked, "When did you fall in love with me?"

"It was gradual," he replied. "I tried not to, because I was scared. But, I also knew I'd never find another woman in the world who could understand me the way that you do."

"Stuck with me, huh?" she teased.

He shook his head. "Not stuck. Lucky. Privileged. But, to answer your question... when you took care of me in Italy when I was out of it for three days. I woke up and saw you sitting there in a chair, trying to sleep, realized what you'd been doing for me the whole time I was out... I thought you would have run."

"I thought I would too," she remarked.

"But you didn't."

"Do you still think about Rachel?"

She watched his reaction to this one closely. She expected discomfort, shifting, averted gazes, but he kept his eyes on hers and answered calmly. "Sometimes. But not in the way that I used to."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that I've made peace with that part of my life," he said, "and with her. And the truth about my feelings for her."

"And...?"

"I loved her. I loved her since we were kids. But not like I love you. Never like I love you. I just... loved the idea of being in love with her, and she was all I had left of my childhood. She made sense to me when nothing else did."

"I'm sorry you lost her," Selina said softly. "From what you've told me, I think I may have even liked her. Once I got past the initial hatred. By the way, it doesn't strike you as weird that we're talking about this while you're still.. in me?"

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" he asked, a grin starting to form at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "It's just... a little odd."

He chuckled and shifted, then slid out of her at last. She felt oddly empty then, and felt a chill rush over her as he sat up and grabbed a few pillows and grabbed the comforter, making them a cozy spot at the foot of the bed so she wouldn't have to move. He pulled the cover up and over her, slid one of the pillows under her head, and then pulled her close to him under the covers.

"Would you mind calling Alfred one more time tonight?" Selina asked as her eyes fluttered shut.

"I will," he assured her. "I promise. Go to sleep."

"I wish I could stay up all night with you," she said, yawning as the sudden fatigue hit her. "I feel like I'm wasting tonight by falling asleep."

"You're not," he murmured. "Sleep."

She sighed and then let herself drift off, exhausted and satisfied and happy. Bruce did as he promised and called Alfred, who reported that Helena was asleep herself after a long day of playing happily with himself and Leslie. Bruce thanked him again and then hung up, returning to Selina's side, falling into a deep sleep alongside her.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: My usual sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you who take the time to review, favorite, follow or silently stalk this story :) thank you guys so much for sticking with me for so long! Now, this chapter is a bit on the fun and lighthearted side of things, and it was a lot of fun to write. After this chapter, however, things will start picking up some, and it's not going to be a fluff-fest forever. I say this just in case anyone's getting bored at all - just keep sticking with me, and the story, because yes, there's a plot in here somewhere :) Also, as a sidenote, I don't think I've ever mentioned this before, but, if anyone wants a clearer idea of what Molly and Christian look like, Christian was inspired by Tom Hardy (imagine his This Means War look, obviously not his Bane persona lol) and if I were to cast Molly, I'd choose Candice Accola hands down. Both of those actors have been in my mind as I've written these two from day one. And while I'm blathering on, I should thank midnightwings96 for not just the usual reasons of being amazing and having amazing ideas but also for giving me the idea (and names) for Molly and Christian, especially Molly and her personality :) I'm glad everyone seems to like them and I hope it stays that way. Anyway, I'm going to shut up now! :D**

"If she goes for it," Molly said, sitting at her kitchen table with Bruce on the other side of it, "definitely count me in. Chris just bought me a new camera and it's huge and has all these weird settings and I've been trying to test it out on different stuff but..."

A squawk from Helena cut off Molly's rambling, and Bruce readjusted her in his arms with a smile. "All right, thanks. I'll give you a call or text as soon as I find out."

"I'm sure she'll be all for it," Molly smiled, getting up to walk the father and baby to the door. "I mean, confidence isn't exactly an issue for her."

"Normally, no," Bruce agreed, flipping Helena around when she whined again, holding her up to his chest and letting her get a better view of her surroundings. She was a little over three months old now and had mastered head control, and in recent weeks showed her utter disdain for being held any way but upright. "But she had a little bit of a problem after Helena was born. She's doing better now, but I think this would help a lot. Help her to see what I see."

"And what everyone else in the world sees," Molly smiled, opening the front door. "She's seriously hot."

Bruce grinned at her in good nature as he walked out the door. "I agree. Thanks again."

Molly smiled and watched him walk away, bouncing Helena a little bit as she continued to whine, and was caught by surprise when a pair of hands found her waist from behind.

"Staring at the hot neighbor's bum again, love?"

Molly chuckled and leaned back into her husband. "Well, look at it! I mean, he's wearing jeans! And," she said, mimicking Christian's English accent, "it's a very nice _bum_."

Bruce was almost out of their line of sight, so Christian had to squint to decide for himself if his new wife's words were true or not. "I don't know. It's all right. Wouldn't you say mine is far better?"

"Far better?" She furrowed her brows and shook her head. "Better, maybe, but far... I mean, objectively..."

He chuckled and turned her around in his arms while also closing the front door. "I'm hurt," he grinned as her arms wrapped around his neck. "My ego feels a bit fragile today."

"Does it? Do you need me to stroke it? Your ego, I mean."

As one man laughed at his wife's antics, another one brought his unhappily hungry child to his own lover, as she ran on the treadmill in their gym room at the steepest incline possible.

"Hungry?" Selina asked breathlessly when she noticed Bruce and Helena's sudden presence in the room.

"Very," Bruce replied. "And very sick of me."

Selina hit a button on the treadmill's control panel and came to a stop, then hopped off and grabbed her water bottle to drain it before taking the now fully-raging baby.

She then grabbed a towel and walked past Bruce, saying, "Bring her to her room," and together the three walked to the barely-used nursery.

Selina sat down in the rocking chair at the far right corner of the room, and Bruce quickly placed the wriggly child into her arms, contented silence filling the room a moment later, once Helena was nursing away at last.

"I take it she cut your walk short," Selina sighed as Bruce took a seat on the chair's matching ottoman.

"Only a little," Bruce shrugged. "I didn't actually go on a walk. I went over to Molly's house."

"Did she see you and drag you there and stuff you with food?"

Bruce smiled. "Well, I did get a muffin out of the deal, but no. I was asking her for a favor."

Selina tilted her head curiously. "Oh?"

"I wanted to know that she'd be up for what I have in mind in case you said yes."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking?"

"What do you think I'm asking?"

Selina widened her eyes for effect, and replied, "Think about what you just said."

Bruce stared at her blankly for a moment before suddenly understanding and laughing. "Jesus, no. No, nothing like that, obviously."

"Good, because that conversation was not going to end well for you," Selina grinned.

"No... no, it's something I thought of the other day. Pretty innocent, compared to what you interpreted."

"All right. Go on."

"As a... belated... anniversary gift," Bruce grinned, "and something to celebrate becoming a parent, I was thinking you might like something to remember yourself by."

"Remember myself?"

"Yeah. Something you can look back on when we're old and have nothing better to do but sit back and look through old photos," Bruce smiled softly.

"Did you have Molly take more secret pictures?" Selina asked, glancing down to find Helena so contented with her meal that she'd already dozed off.

"No. I was thinking you'd prefer to be aware this time. Have a full shoot."

"With you?"

Bruce paused. "I was actually thinking more along the lines of... just you."

She looked at him strangely for a moment before she then said, "_Oh_. You're talking about sexy pictures."

"Like a boudoir shoot," Bruce confirmed. "You've worked so hard every day since you had Helena and look better than ever. I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate."

She grinned, letting her eyes wander the room as she thought about it. She hadn't seen many photos of this nature herself but she recalled seeing a TV show, back when Helena was first born and she was spending most of the day in bed watching the usually-neglected television, that featured a storyline about a woman who had done such a shoot as a gift to her fiancé. "So... tastefully done photos of me clothed and then not clothed."

Bruce shrugged. "It's whatever you want."

She continued to grin as she replied, "I'll do it. But I have one condition. You have to do it with me."

"I... don't know if Molly would be entirely comfortable with that..."

"Oh please. She's been dying to see you naked since she met you."

Bruce cleared his throat and stifled a laugh. "That's why I don't think she'd be crazy about the idea."

"Look," Selina sighed, "she's harmless, you know that. And you also know it takes a lot for me to say that. Actually," she grinned, "can you imagine how red her face would get? I'd do it just to watch her struggle to keep eye contact with you."

Bruce paused as Selina all but cackled at her own words. Had he just created a monster?

"Here's what we can do," Selina said. "You can tell her that I'll do it and we just won't mention that you're going to do it too, to save her the stress of overthinking it or feeling awkward. That is, if you're going to do it." When he didn't answer and simply half-grinned indecisively, Selina leaned forward, shifting the sleeping child in her arms, and said, "I'll use your same argument. When we're old and wrinkly and bored, wouldn't it be nice to have pictures to remind us of how incredibly sexy we were back in our prime?"

He would have argued about now being his prime - thinking of his leg brace and embarrassingly frequent backaches, not to mention the growing but hidden number of silvery hairs sprouting on each side of his head - but if Selina thought that was the case, that was all right with him. "All right. If that's what you want."

"It is," Selina grinned.

"Okay." Bruce smiled and got to his feet. "Oh. And Blake's flying in tomorrow."

"Alone?"

He nodded. "Training. He'll be here for a week."

"Joy," Selina grimaced. "That means having to wear pants around the house for a week."

Bruce grinned and dropped a kiss to her lips. "That _is_ unfortunate."

* * *

Bruce arranged for Molly to come to the house the next afternoon, giving Selina the morning to get ready. She strapped Helena to her chest and headed into town, got her hair cut for the first time in months and did a bit of shopping as well before returning home. Then she handed off Helena to Bruce, who then waited for Alfred to come by and pick her up for the day.

He passed the time by sitting in bed as Selina showered, lying Helena down on her back and leaning over her with an array of toys dangling from his hands.

She batted her hands at a pink heart-shaped rattle he shook above her head, then gave her attention to a singing stuffed fish and the music playing softly from it. After awhile, though, she tired of all of it, and Bruce picked her up, holding her face level to his. "You bored, Helena? Am I not as exciting as Mommy?"

She smiled, and he couldn't help but smile back. But when he did, her tiny little eyebrows suddenly knit together and her lips twisted down into a frown, and he copied her, which made her smile all over again.

"You like funny faces, huh?" he thought out loud. Then he opened his eyes wide and stuck his tongue out, and she smiled even wider. He laughed a little, then puffed out his cheeks and squinted at her. Her smile was so huge that it looked like her fat cheeks must have been in pain from it, but he pressed on, sticking his tongue out again and then crossing his eyes. This was the face that did it, and with another huge smile, Helena laughed for the first time.

It was a grunt-like noise, and at first Bruce didn't realize that it had been a smile. When he did, however, he made the face again, and like before, she laughed, but it was a more confident, full-fledged, high pitched baby laugh. Bruce laughed with her, entirely pleased with himself and honored to have gotten her first real laugh out of her. She'd rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago, on Selina's day off while he'd been at the hospital, and he knew he'd inevitably miss other things as life went on, so he would especially treasure those firsts he did get to witness.

"Having a party out here?" Selina asked, suddenly appearing in a bathrobe and towel-drying her hair, smiling at the sight of Bruce beaming as he held his daughter.

"She laughed," he replied. "It was the cutest thing I've ever heard."

"No way," Selina said, dropping the towel to the floor and kneeling on the bed to get a good look at Helena. "What did you do?"

"Made stupid faces," Bruce smiled, just before Selina snatched her away.

"I don't believe it! Let's see if Daddy's full of crap or not," Selina said before busting out some of the goofiest faces she could muster. Helena merely stared at her, stone-faced, and Selina gave up after a moment and narrowed her eyes at the baby. "Really?"

Bruce leaned in over Selina's shoulder and made the winning face again, and Helena took one look at him and bursted into short little giggles. Selina laughed despite herself, laughing harder when she got a look at Bruce's face - he really did look hilarious - and then the front doorbell ringing interrupted them.

"That would be Alfred," Bruce said, and Selina handed the child over.

"Here you go," Selina smiled. "I'd say she has a clear preference today."

Bruce smiled the whole way to the door, unaware of how Alfred doubted he'd ever get used to seeing his former charge so openly happy when he opened the door.

"Afternoon," Alfred greeted warmly with a nod.

"Hi, Alfred," Bruce smiled. "Come on in."

"Good day so far, I take it?"

"Yeah," Bruce replied as they walked into the kitchen together. "Helena had her first laugh about five minutes ago."

"Did she now?" Alfred smiled and leaned into the baby as her father held her, mussing the dark brown hair on top of her head. "Who got it out of her?"

"I did," Bruce replied, handing her to his former butler so he could retrieve a few bottles of Selina's pumped milk from the fridge. "Apparently my funny faces are excellent."

"That I believe," Alfred smiled. "Your father coaxed your first laughs out of you in much the same way. He was a very serious man, as you know - much like yourself - and I think it was the contrast between his usual demeanor and his funny faces that made you laugh so hard."

Bruce smiled, walking out of the room briefly to grab Helena's diaper bag from the living room. When he returned he said, "Thanks, Alfred. Details like that... you're the only one who knows them."

Alfred nodded as Bruce began packing the diaper bag. "You're very welcome, sir. Though I'm starting to think I should begin writing them down before I start forgetting them in my old age."

"Like a memoir?"

"Perhaps."

Bruce zipped up the bag and turned towards Alfred. "I think that's a great idea."

Alfred glanced at the child in his arms, who was currently playing with the collar of his shirt, and said, "Now that there's a new addition to the Wayne family, I think it may be more important than ever for your parents to be properly remembered. She will want to know all about them someday."

Bruce nodded and ran his hand over Helena's back. "Yeah."

Attempting to lighten the suddenly solemn mood, Alfred cleared his throat quickly and asked, "Has Blake arrived yet?"

"Yeah," Bruce replied. "I picked him up this morning. He's sleeping in one of the spare rooms."

Alfred nodded. "All right. I suppose I should get her next door, so you and Miss Kyle can get ready for... whatever it is you're doing that requires a lack of children."

Bruce grinned and started walking Alfred to the door. "Just some photos, Alfred. Nothing too exciting."

"Whatever you say, sir."

* * *

Selina was in her bathroom, running a straightener through her hair as Bruce showered, when she heard another knock at the door. She then dropped the flatiron and headed to the door, noting that if it was Molly she would be almost a full hour early.

She opened the door to find the blonde woman on the other side, camera bag on her arm, her blue eyes wide and smile huge. She also appeared to be bouncing a little bit.

Selina narrowed her eyes. "... Molly."

"Selina." Molly then managed to smile even wider.

"Okay," Selina said, stepping aside so Molly could enter, "just tell me. There must be a reason you look like you're about to burst."

"I can't hold it in," Molly said, dropping her bag to the couch as they walked into the living room. "I'll die if I don't say it. I'm pregnant!"

Molly then squealed and jumped a little, and Selina smiled at her exuberance, though she'd never been one to jump up and down over any sort of news. But Molly was so incredibly happy and excited that it was contagious, so Selina went ahead and pulled her into a hug.

"I knew it," she laughed as the smaller girl squeezed her to death. "It's written all over your face. Congratulations, sweetie."

Molly then pulled away and clasped Selina's wrists as she replied, "Thank you! I just found out this morning - you're the first person I told!"

"Chris doesn't know?" Selina asked, genuinely surprised.

Molly shook her head. "He's been holed up in his office on conference calls all day. That's actually one of the things I wanted to ask you about - I don't know how to tell him."

"Well," Selina said, motioning for Molly to sit next to her on the couch, "was it planned?"

"Not exactly," Molly replied. "I mean, after the wedding he agreed for me to go off the pill, but we weren't exactly trying. I wanted to try, but he's been a little hesitant all along."

Selina nodded. "I really don't think you should be nervous. He obviously knew the risks of you going off the pill, so if he was really that against it, he wouldn't have agreed to it."

"Yeah," Molly sighed. "But how did you tell Bruce when you found out?"

Selina paused and replied, "We... sort of found out at the same time. And it was a huge shock. It was a really... strange... situation."

"Well, still," Molly shrugged.

"No," Selina half-smiled, "seriously, nothing about it was normal. I mean, Helena was conceived in a _cave_."

Molly's eyes widened comically. "In a cave? You guys had sex in a _cave_?"

Selina grinned and replied, "On top of a motorcycle in a cave."

Molly's jaw continued to drop closer and closer to the floor as she said, "I mean... that sounds hot and all but... _why_?"

Selina shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a long story. Anyway, back to my point. When we found out i was pregnant, I had the mother of all meltdowns but he was over the moon, and I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. And it was my fault. I was on antibiotics and didn't tell bother to tell him that we needed to use backup. So when I forgot to use it - once - it was on me."

"Damn. _Once_?"

"Once," Selina nodded. "It took me a long time to accept it, too. Bruce is... a very, very patient man."

"I can tell," Molly replied.

"Just be honest with Christian. You guys are married, stable. You've had three years of just the two of you, right?"

"Three and a half."

"Then it's not like it's too soon. Not like Bruce and I. We were only together for three months when we found out. And half that time I don't even know if we were 'together' really. So you're on much firmer ground than I was."

"I've just wanted a baby for so long," Molly smiled. "I've always loved babies and I've wanted to have his babies since, like, our third date."

Selina chuckled. "See, you're so far ahead of where I was when I'd just found out. When did you start suspecting it, by the way?"

Molly's eyes widened a little bit and she said, "Oh, well, for the last week and a half, I've been so hungry it's insane. And I've been craving peanut butter. I sat down and ate a whole jar with a spoon yesterday. Oh! And I'm so freaking horny it's ridiculous. I mean, I'm usually ready to go anyway, but lately it's been like... insane."

Selina laughed. "Wait til you get huge. It only gets worse."

"Really?"

"Yeah, just ask Bruce. I didn't let him sleep much the last couple months of pregnancy."

Molly laughed. "I doubt he really minded! So, how did you find out you were pregnant?"

Selina thought back on that unglamorous morning in Gotham and said, "I got a whiff of eggs and threw up everywhere. Right after sex."

Molly wrinkled her nose. "I don't look forward to the barfing."

Selina shrugged. "Maybe you'll be one of those lucky bitches who never puke."

"I'd be fine with not puking and just eating tons of peanut butter and having lots and lots of sex. Actually, even if I do puke all the time, the rest still sounds awesome."

Selina laughed her agreement, and then Bruce sauntered out into the living room. His hair was wet from his shower and he was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, and the girls quieted down immediately upon his arrival. He noticed this and said, "... Sorry. Must have interrupted something. Just passing through."

"No, no, you're fine," Selina assured him. "Just some girl talk."

Bruce backed out of the living room then and grinned. "I'll be in the kitchen."

"Okay," Selina replied, watching Molly's eyes unabashedly fall to Bruce's ass as he walked away. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of Molly's face.

"Oh _God_ - see?" Molly exclaimed, shaking her head and face-palming herself. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so awkward, but... hormones, I guess."

"Molly," Selina smiled in amusement, "you do the same thing every single time you're around us."

"I do? Aw, man... I don't mean to!"

"I know that," Selina replied. "If it was anyone else I would have killed them by now. But I know that's just you."

"I'm such a pervert," Molly sighed.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know if I'd go that far. After all, you're married, not blind and dead. And you ogle Blake the same way so I know you don't exclusively do it to Bruce."

"Well, _yeah_," Molly said with slightly wide eyes. "Have you _seen_ him?"

Selina shrugged. "He's like the annoying kid brother I want to slap most of the time, so I don't know. He's here, by the way."

"He is? Oh God," Molly sighed, "keep him away. My thoughts are running wild as it is."

Selina laughed, not having the heart yet to tell Molly what was in store for her.

* * *

"So here's what I was thinking," Molly said, standing by Selina in her bathroom as she finished up her hair and and makeup, "really super tasteful, obviously, strategic shading and covering, no body parts hanging out -"

"Nice way to put it," Selina smirked, leaning forward towards the mirror as she waved her mascara wand over her lashes.

"Well, there's a difference between nude and boudoir, but during my research I've found a lot of photographers that don't really know the difference. Anyway - so did you have, like, a theme in mind? I thought maybe we could do it like, start you off if your work clothes, show you coming home, sit down, take off your shoes, go from there. I saw some shower pics online that were gorgeous."

Selina raised a brow. Shower pics? Oh, how that gave her ideas...

She turned around and looked at Molly, a slightly guilty look in her eyes. "Look... there's something I'm not telling you."

"What?"

"I kind of told Bruce I'd only do this if he did it with me."

Molly stared poker faced at her friend for a good long moment before she squeaked out, "With you? Like... _with_ you?"

Selina nodded.

"So... oh, sweet Jesus," Molly sighed, closing her eyes. "You want sexy couple's pictures."

"But in the style that we were just discussing," Selina added.

Molly was leaning against the bathroom wall, her eyes still closed as she muttered, "You want me to photograph you and Bruce sucking each other's faces off and ripping clothes to shreds."

"Pretty much. And since you put that shower idea in my head..."

Molly finally opened her eyes, pushed her blonde waves behind her ears with both hands and said, "These are going to be the most gorgeous pictures ever. And I'm going to die. Seriously, I'm not sure if I can handle it."

Selina patted her shoulder. "You can do it."

"If I spontaneously combust or stare or do something else equally embarrassing," Molly sighed, "I'm blaming you."

* * *

That particular twist threw a wrench into Molly's theme idea, so in lieu of that, Molly came up with alternatives as Selina tried to figure out what to wear.

"... I mean, that could work. Or, how's this - I can do some with you guys on the beach to start with, then bring it inside, and then you guys can... start... undressing..."

Molly was standing in the doorway of Selina's walk-in closet as Selina skimmed through her clothes, humming a "Yeah" or "Maybe" here and there. Molly sighed and glanced at Bruce's row of hanging clothes - a lot of suits and designer shirts, she noted - and then an idea suddenly struck her.

"Oh my God, Selina! I'm a genius."

"What?" Selina muttered, frowning as she surveyed her options.

"Bruce is gonna love me. Okay, before I do the ones of both of you, I want to get some of just you. On your guys' bed. In his clothes."

Selina turned slowly and grinned appreciatively at her friend. "Nice. Why didn't I think of that?"

Molly smiled, immensely pleased with herself. "That's why I'm here." She then started flipping through the hangers, looking for the right shirt, and settled on plucking out a basic but crisp and very expensive white button-down. "How about this? And maybe throw on a loose tie with it..."

Selina nodded her agreeance and walked to the drawer Bruce kept his ties in, and considered her options as she looked them over.

"Black, maybe?"

"Black and white would look good," Molly agreed. "Oh, and wear just the shirt and tie, and put on some garters and stockings, and some heels too..."

Selina grinned, imagining the look that would be on Bruce's face when he eventually saw these spur of the moment pictures, and decided that this had been a very good idea, indeed.

* * *

An hour later, both of them dressed quite casually and barefoot, Selina found herself underneath Bruce in the sand as tiny waves washed over their feet. She was pretty sure that this was going to be the tamest part of the whole day, and she was trying her best to use this time to get comfortable with the process, but she found herself wanting to laugh. A lot.

Molly had shifted into a more professional demeanor, pleasantly barking orders on how she wanted them to pose, and Bruce was currently propped up on one arm as he hovered over her, while his other hand rested in her hair. They were a breath apart and Bruce was smiling down at her as she tried not to giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she replied, though she giggled again, and used one of her hands to brush back some of his dangling hair. "This is kind of fun, actually."

"Mmm," he murmured, dipping his head down to kiss her neck. Molly had told them of specific poses and things to keep in mind, but her main request was that they act natural and, when she wasn't giving them instructions, to merely pretend she wasn't there. Bruce seemed to have zero difficulty doing that, and Selina wasn't far behind.

As Molly flitted about with her camera, Selina drew Bruce up with her hands to kiss her lips, and when Molly commented cheerfully some time later that she'd gotten enough of beach-style pics, Selina almost forgot what she'd been doing in the first place.

She shook the sand out of her hair as the three of them re-entered the house, and Molly scrolled through the photos she'd taken as she said, "So... if you guys want to get changed and do the... um... the rest of the pictures, I'll just wait out here."

"Relax, Molly," Selina chided as she took Bruce's hand and led him to their room.

Once they were inside, they shed their shorts and shirts and Selina bounded back into the closet, grabbing one of his suits and throwing it to him before closing the door.

"What, I'm not allowed to see you get dressed?"

"Nope!" she replied through the door.

He eyed the set of clothes she'd thrown to him, all black as he would have suspected, and remarked as he started pulling the pants on, "Seems like we're getting awfully dressed up just to get undressed in another five minutes."

"That's the best kind of dressing up," Selina replied playfully, getting on the new set of undergarments she'd gotten during her brief shopping trip this morning. On top of those would go a dress she'd had for a long time but had never worn, a black dress that was a bit more daring than the one she'd worn on their first post-baby date night. It was shorter, had a slightly less plunging neckline but did just as satisfactory of a job of displaying her curves, and boasted of sheer sides that were covered only by thin lace.

The best part of it all was, she didn't have the least bit of apprehension about wearing it or being photographed in it - or out of it - and it felt good to have that kind of confidence back.

* * *

When Molly finally allowed herself into their room, she did so with a humorous look on her face until she snapped back into business mode and started going on about how the lighting simply would not do. She asked if they had any plain black sheets and, once supplied with said sheets, started draping them over all of the windows, blocking out all of the sun and creating a night-time feel in the room. Then she adjusted the lights in the room, turning most off but leaving a few on a dimmer setting, and when she was satisfied with the room, she turned to the couple, camera in hand, and said, "So... I guess this is where you guys start attacking each other. Do you... want me to put music on, or something, maybe...?"

Selina looked at Bruce, standing there looking every bit the elegant playboy, his hair fixed neatly atop his head and begging for her fingers to ruin it, and she decided that music or anything else wasn't needed to "set the mood". "Nah. I think we're good."

Then she grabbed Bruce by his jacket and shoved him up against the wall next to the bedroom's open doorway, and she heard Molly curse and laugh at the same time as she hurried to turn on her camera. Bruce's hands came down on her waist as she smiled and called back to Molly, "Stay on your toes. We tend to do this fast."

"Well, do it slow once, then!"

Bruce returned Selina's grin just before her lips crashed against his, and she felt none of the slight awkwardness of earlier as she heard the camera's shuttering. She pulled at the black tie that she'd insisted Bruce wear for the sole purpose of yanking, and he returned her kiss with equal enthusiasm, finding it all to be quite entertaining on his end.

Molly had no qualms about directing them during this part, suggesting they switch positions. They obliged, and Selina found herself pinned to the wall as she pushed down Bruce's jacket slowly enough for Molly to get a shot. Molly had mentioned wanting shots all of the little details and moves, and she was constantly twisting and turning the camera as she snapped away, but the couple Newley forgot she was there between her bits of instruction.

Selina pulled off Bruce's tie first, letting it fall by the wayside as he bent one of her legs at the knee, wrapped his hand around her calf and brought her leg up to his hip while he kissed her neck. One of her hands knotted in his hair as the other began deftly unbuttoning his shirt, while his hand moved up her leg and found the very top of her black sheer stocking, peeking out from the slightly ridden-up hem of her dress.

He was about to pluck it free from the garter and roll it down her leg when Molly piped up with a suggestion. "Actually... could you take that off with your teeth?"

Bruce ceased his kissing and looked up at Selina, who grinned at the suggestion. He dropped to his knees then, ignoring Molly as she came a little bit closer. He pushed up her dress by about a half inch and unsnapped the garter, then pressed a kiss to the sliver of exposed skin before taking the thin fabric between his teeth.

Selina watched Molly as she came even closer, snapping furiously, and she was surprised by how comfortable she felt. There was a slight humorous, lighthearted undertone to the shoot - it was just a photoshoot, after all - and when the stocking rolled off of her foot and Molly came up for air from behind the lens, she grinned at her friend. Molly responded by fanning herself, and Selina chuckled just before Bruce scooped her up into his arms unexpectedly.

He deposited her on the edge of their bed as Molly scurried to follow them, laying her down on her back while he lifted up her other leg and slowly removed that stocking, this time with his fingers. Then he was kissing down her leg, and she grabbed his shirt and used it to leverage to sit up and pull him down to her.

She removed his shirt and Molly suggested a few poses on the bed, including a shameless sheet-fisting shot, and somewhere amidst all of the kissing and posing, Selina whispered into Bruce's ear, "We're hitting the shower next."

He chuckled breathlessly. "You're going to make this poor girl take pictures of us in the shower?"

"It was her idea," Selina replied playfully. "Well, kind of."

"Hey! No whispering!" Molly chastised. "Now how about you guys get up and go stand by that big mirror?"

They both glanced across the room to the full-sized mirror next to their dresser, and Bruce got up first, helping Selina get to her feet. He smoothed down her mussed hair as well, and straightened her dress for her before Molly told them to stand in front of the mirror, Selina's back to Bruce's chest.

From there, Molly continued to flit about and use every angle at her disposal, and Bruce decided that it was time for Selina to lose the dress. First he brushed her hair to the right and placed it over her shoulder, then took the straps of the dress and pulled them down slowly over her shoulders. Then he kissed the top of her shoulder as his hands traveled to her mid-back, where he gently pulled down the zipper there and watched as the dress slid down the top of her body.

"That's new," he murmured against her ear, his eyes on her bra in the mirror. The bra was black with a deep red lace overlay, pushing up her more than ample breasts enough without crossing the line into ridiculous. "I hope it's part of a matching set."

"As if I'd buy anything else," she replied, watching his hands continue to push down the dress until it ended up a pool around her feet.

A moment later she'd turned in his arms and was unbuckling his belt as she nipped at his throat. Molly seemed to have lost the entirety of her anxiety, coming as close as the shot required without pause and barking suggestions with confidence, and it had begun to have the feel of a well-oiled machine by the time Bruce and Selina were equally down to their underwear.

Per Molly's suggestion, Bruce picked Selina up and placed her on top of the dresser next. He pulled down the straps of her bra as she wrapped her legs around his waist, leaning back on the wooden furniture with her palms planted flat behind her, while his lips trailed down from her collarbone towards the swell of her contained breasts.

They were both enjoying themselves so thoroughly and finding it all to be so much fun that they were far to wrapped up to have noticed the faint sounds of footsteps coming closer towards their room from the hall, nor the distant calls of Bruce's name from the mouth of a groggy, freshly-awoken John Blake, who merely wanted to ask Bruce when he wanted to get his training started.

Generally, an open door signals safe entry for others, so Blake didn't think anything of strolling into the room and asking nonchalantly, "Hey, Bruce, you in here? I was just wonder- oh God! _Jesus_!"

Molly was the first to turn and look, and she clamped a hand down over her mouth to keep from laughing as the young man jerked his head away so fast that he'd probably given himself whiplash. Then Bruce froze and looked behind him as Selina immediately burst out laughing.

"I'm - _oh God_ - I'm sorry, I -" Blake stammered, then, like a horrible reflex that he couldn't control, he looked up one more time and saw Molly. Then his expression became even more horrified just as he covered his eyes with his hand and started backing up. "What the hell?! What the - the hell did I just walk in on? She's got a camera - oh _God_, I don't want to know."

Then, not watching where he was going, Blake walked backwards into a lamp and knocked it over. Selina decided that there had never been a better time to taunt him. "Hey, don't act so traumatized. It's not like you haven't watched us get it on before."

Bruce winced at her words, but with a smile and an incredulous snort, and Molly looked at Selina with wide eyes. "He _has_?!"

"I hate you, Selina," Blake torturously muttered, making her laugh even harder, before turning around with his hands still over his eyes and all but running out the door.

"Hey if you want," she called after him, "next time you bring Raven down, Molly can do a shoot with you guys too!"

A miserable-sounding "No!" was then followed by the slam of a door, and Selina continued laughing as if she'd never been so amused in her entire life.

"Okay, that was funny and all," Molly said, her expression serious, "but when the _hell_ did he watch you guys 'get it on'? Is there some strange dynamic here that I'm not aware of?"

"No," Bruce shook his head, glancing at Molly for the first time since the shoot started. "But there was an issue one time with some... home security footage that he... accidentally... came across."

Selina continued to giggle softly as Molly's intrigued expression softened. "Oh... home security footage? That's... wow. Okay then. So," she cleared her throat, "shower?"

"Shower," Selina agreed, swinging her legs to the side and sliding gracefully to the floor. She took Bruce's hand and they walked towards the bathroom as Molly occupied her eyes with reviewing her camera roll while she followed.

Selina opened the shower door and flipped on the main shower head before stepping back, letting the water heat up as she grinned at Bruce and pulled him close. "Ready to watch her face turn into a tomato?" she whispered into his ear.

"You're enjoying this too much," Bruce replied quietly, though he didn't protest as Selina's hands came down over his waist to slide away his last bit of clothing.

Selina looked over Bruce's shoulder, saw Molly glance up and blush crimson before turning and planting her wide eyes back firmly on her camera. "Did you _see_ Blake's face?"

"Unfortunately," Bruce grimaced, "yes. Turn around."

Selina obeyed, and in another moment, Bruce had discarded her bra to the floor after briefly examining it. "I like this. You should wear red more often." Then he pulled down the matching panties, and with a smirk, she stepped backwards into the shower.

"Molly, honey," Selina called as she pulled Bruce inside, "you can look now."

Her earlier confidence now strained to the limit, Molly put on a brave face and decided to maintain nothing but full eye contact for the duration of the shoot. "Okay. So, Selina, press up against him, and Bruce, hold up her leg so that it's covering your guys... parts. Then... how about putting your other hand on the wall by her head... yeah. That looks good."

Selina and Bruce stared at each other, the oddness of the current situation not lost on them. Selina cracked a grin and pulled him to her by his hair, kissing him under the cascading water, feeling him relax against her once more as she deepened the kiss.

From there, she made sure to keep her leg where it was, but otherwise they let their bodies take on more natural movements and poses, and Molly muttered her approval with each shift and continued to snap countless photos.

Molly was struck by the beauty of the sight before her, two gorgeous people who clearly were utterly consumed with each other, dripping wet and seemingly not at all self-conscious, and all the more beautiful for it. She found it similar to watching a particularly moving love scene in a movie, not one designed for cheap thrills or shock value, but one that aimed to make you feel what the subjects felt and fall deeper in love with them.

Eventually, both of their hands ended up intertwined on either side of Selina's head against the wall, and Bruce nipped at a piece of flesh at the base of her throat that made her giggle, and Molly captured their mirroring smiles for the brief moment that they lingered upon their lips. Then they were serious again, lost in one another, getting less and less interested in posing, and Molly glanced down at her camera's display. Somehow, she'd already taken over 100 photos of just the shower alone.

Molly bit her lip, turning off her camera, fanning herself again as she realized just how hormonal she truly was. "Hey, guys... are we good here? Because I'm kinda dying now and need to... get home and... find Chris..."

"Yep," Bruce replied, reaching out and slamming the shower door shut. Molly smiled and shook her head, scooping up her camera and sprinting out of the room. She really needed to find Christian, stat.

She grabbed her camera bag from their bedroom and then headed down the hallway, pausing as she passed the kitchen and noticed Blake sitting at their table with a cup of coffee.

"Sorry again about... well, you know," Molly said when Blake looked up and then quickly looked away. "It really was just a photoshoot. They aren't dabbling in amateur porn."

He waved his hand through the air slightly, resignedly, "It's fine. You'd think I'd learn to knock on doors no matter what, even if they're wide open and it's the middle of the day..."

Molly grinned, lingering in the doorway. "Well, there are worse things to walk in on. Like parents. Ugh. I did that once when I was like nine. Still traumatized."

"Well... this was more like... older brother and the hot girlfriend that you can't think is hot because she's with your brother. And who kind of hates you on top of it."

Molly furrowed her brows. "Aren't you her daughter's godfather? I really doubt that she hates you."

He shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Sometimes we get along great. Other times she makes me want to bang my head against the wall."

Molly smiled. "That's how family is. At least I think so. It's been awhile since I've seen mine. But I'm pretty sure that's how it is. So take it as a good thing. And she was enjoying watching me squirm behind the camera as much as she enjoyed watching you break her lamp."

Blake winced and muttered, "I swear to God, you'd think I was thirteen and spastic."

Molly chuckled and realized that she'd let herself get distracted from her very important mission back at home. "Anyway. Offer still stands for you and Raven. See you later."

He nodded, having no intention of taking her up on her offer. "Later."

Then Molly was gone, off to jump her husband's bones and then hopefully tell him her good news as well at some point, and just as Blake decided to act his age and get over the embarrassing incident today, he stood up to rinse out his cup and heard a crashing sound from down the hall, followed by Selina's unmistakable exuberant laughing. Then there was another crash, muffled cursing from a deeper voice, and then Blake decided that now was the perfect time to go pay Alfred a friendly visit. He also decided that he felt very, very bad for Helena and any potential siblings of hers, especially if Bruce and Selina didn't start figuring out how to keep it down and close their bedroom door.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: as always, thanks to all of you for your reviews and continuing loyalty :) something to keep in mind for this chapter and future ones - I've reached a point in the story currently where little but significant time jumps are happening. This one's set three months after the last chapter, and it's for the sake of preventing anyone from getting bored and keeping the story lively. It's also bridging this current part of the story into the next part, which I have been looking forward to sinking my proverbial teeth into for a long time :D Also, in reply to avid reader's review, Helena will, in fact, grow into adulthood in this story, but not for a looooong time, so no worries there :) most of the plot I've got planned happens when she's a kid, and by the time I finally get to chapter 6495,939393 when she turns 18... I'll be shocked if anyone's still reading this then anyway. LOL. So, anyway, on with the story. I must thank two people first, nogood4me and midnightwings96, the former for giving me an idea to turn a random line from a previous chapter into a delicious new character (mwahaha), and the latter for helping me figure out said delicious character and taking it to the next level of awesome. As well as all of her usual amazing help. :D **

Selina found it ironic and, at times, greatly annoying that on a tiny, private island of less than fifty people, accessible only by boat, that she had to deal with people on a far larger scale than she'd ever had to in Gotham. There, she'd been able to blend into the shadows and keep her social life to a minimum, which suited her just fine. Here, however, it was nearly impossible to be a loner.

Alfred and Leslie knew how to keep their distance, and she appreciated that, but then there was Molly, whom Selina continued to grow more and more fond of, but she could be a bit dim in getting Selina's hints to get lost, especially now that she was pregnant and somehow even more energetic. Besides Molly was Anita, who in addition to working at the shelter with Selina every day came over frequently to let Kylie play with Helena. Then, on the days where Selina thought that maybe - just maybe - she could squeak by without any significant social interaction from any of the above mentioned folks, the island's resident old ladies would show up at her door and literally drag her to one of their houses, and solitude would again escape her.

This happened one day, when Helena was six and a half months old and Bruce was in Nassau preparing his hospital for its opening one week from then, and before Selina could so much as squeak a protest, she was sitting on Norma's couch and watching Betty and Doris pass Helena back and forth like a football.

A handful of homemade cookies were shoved into her hand - and she wasn't sure whether to eat them or not, thinking of her recently regained figure - and the old ladies plopped down on the couch, surrounding her.

"Look at this little angel!" Doris exclaimed, holding Helena up on her lap and smiling brightly at her. "I can't get over how gorgeous she is! Even if you _do_ dress her like some kind of skate punk."

Helena was dressed in black, sparkly pants and a black and gray onesie that also sported some rather non-cuddly kitty faces on the sleeves. Her dark brown hair, which covered her whole head now and went an inch past her head to her neck, was pinned up in a moderately large black bow that had a rhinestone skull in the middle of it. Selina wasn't generally into skulls, but she hadn't been able to resist buying the thing when she'd seen it on her last shopping trip.

Selina opened her mouth to protest but Betty beat her to it. "Oh, would you pipe down, Doris? She looks like a little rockstar, not a skate punk. Trust me, I know. My grandson's a skate punk. And he looks ridiculous."

"Can she have some candy, Selina?" Norma asked, grabbing a dish of candies off the coffee table in front of the couch. "Some of these are soft enough..."

"Absolutely not!" Doris exclaimed, bouncing Helena slightly, which made her giggle. "She's only six months old! Start her this early on sweets and she'll never eat good food. Then she'll be a two hundred pound five year old."

Selina shook her head slightly and smiled, then turned to Norma. "If you have any bananas, you could try to feed her one of those, if you'd like. It's the only solid food I've gotten her to eat so far."

"Excellent," Norma grinned, getting up to go find the fruit in her kitchen.

As she left the living room, the remaining ladies turned their attentions to Selina. "So, how are you and Bruce doing?" Betty asked.

"Good, very good," Selina smiled. "The new hospital opens next week."

"Fantastic!" Doris smiled, reluctantly handing Helena over to Betty when she held out her hands and gave her a pointed look. "Now I'll have somewhere new to go if I need another hip replacement. Never have liked Nassau General since that old jerk bought it out."

"That old jerk is younger than you, Doris," Betty rolled her eyes. Helena didn't stay on her lap long, after looking up at her mother and grinning before halfway throwing herself on to Selina.

"Whatever," Doris shrugged. "So, does the hospital have a maternity wing?"

"... Yes," Selina replied, a curious look in her eye. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

"How lovely it would be to give birth in a hospital owned by your own husband," Betty grinned.

"They aren't married, Betty," Norma pointed out.

"Oh, whatever."

Selina smiled. The old ladies were always wonderfully entertaining, even if they were a bit overbearing at times. "I'm not having any more babies any time soon. I'm happy with one for now."

"For now?" Betty raised an eyebrow. "What about Bruce, does he agree?"

Selina shrugged. "Well... I know he wants at least one more. But he's fine with waiting."

Doris shook her head. "You don't want to wait. Trust me, you don't."

"Here we go," Betty muttered, leaning back against the couch.

"No, listen," Doris said seriously, turning closer to Selina, "have your babies young. It is so much easier, trust me. I had my son when I was twenty five. Then I got divorced a few years later, and when I got remarried I was thirty seven. Had my daughter at forty. Night and day difference. It was horrible, I can't even tell you. A few of my girlfriends had babies in their thirties and they said it was harder even then."

"Who said what?" Norma asked, reemerging, bearing a bowl of mashed bananas and a spoon.

"Babies are harder to have when you're older," Betty replied.

"Oh, it is!" Norma exclaimed, her French accent coloring her words as she sat down between Selina and Betty. "I had twins when I was thirty eight. Horrible!"

Selina smiled as Norma then raised a spoon of the goo to Helena's lips. The baby looked at the spoon suspiciously for a moment before tentatively opening her mouth, then chomped down on the spoon once she got a taste and realized what it was. "Well," Selina said, "I understand, but I'm only 28."

"Yes, but think about having kids with, say, five or more years between them," Norma said. "Wouldn't it be better to have your kids close together? You get the baby years over with early, they have a built in best friend in one another. Then, once they're older, they're out of the house around the same time."

"That would be the best part!" Doris exclaimed. "You could act like newlyweds again. And you don't want to wait until you're in your sixties to do that."

Selina stared at the women as Helena continued to chow down happily. "I... well, I didn't think about all of that."

"That's why we're here," Norma smiled. "We're wise and old and blunt. Well, I'm wise anyway. Doris worries me sometimes."

"Oh, bite me," Doris retorted, rolling her blue eyes.

Selina smiled. The three of them were such a mix of personalities, all widows, all mothers and grandmothers, all different from one another but a riot to be around. In a startling thought, Selina could imagine being a part of her own little old lady group someday with Anita and Molly, and weirdly enough, they'd even look like the ones she was sitting with - Anita with her soft Bahamian accent and dark skin, like Betty, Molly with her pale skin and eyes like Doris, and Selina, a little more exotic like Norma.

She shook her head. She'd prefer not to imagine herself quite that old.

"And anyway," Norma said, "I'll tell you what I told Brad and Angie. You two owe it to the world to contribute more to the gene pool."

Betty rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it, Norma. You've never met Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Stop acting like you have."

"Yes I have!" Norma protested, loudly. "I told you, I was in Paris and ran into them just a block away from the Eiffel Tower..."

Selina laughed as another lighthearted argument began, and found herself genuinely considering the points that had been made about having kids early versus later. She'd be twenty nine this year, and Bruce would be forty one. She wasn't even sure if she did want more kids, but she had been sure that she did want to wait at least a few years. She didn't, however, think about raising one child from babyhood to school age, and then doing it all over again. Perhaps it _would_ be smarter to condense the baby and toddler years, all things considered. And the thought of having the house all to themselves in about another twenty years versus twenty five to thirty did sound much more appealing.

Warm liquid dribbling down Selina's leg snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw that Helena had spit up on her lap, a nice goopy combination of breastmilk from earlier and mashed banana.

Selina groaned, and Helena laughed happily.

_Come to think of it_, Selina thought as Norma laughed heartily and got up to fetch her a towel, _one kid is perfectly fine_.

* * *

One week later, early afternoon on a sunny Tuesday, Selina stood with Bruce on the top floor of the Helena M. Wayne Medical Center in Nassau, watching out of a wall-length window as Leslie spoke to the press. Today was the official opening of the hospital, a day of cameras and reporters and a lot of attention. Tomorrow was the day they'd start accepting patients.

Bruce was in a suit, dressed well despite his decision to stay away from the cameras, and Selina was in her work clothes, having come straight here from the shelter only an hour or two before. She was proud to stand by him as he watched his hard work start to pay off.

"I think it's sad that you're not out there," Selina remarked. Helena was snoozing next to them in her stroller, and Bruce was staring at the press conference down below, only looking slightly wistful. "After how hard you've worked to get this place open."

Bruce shrugged. "Leslie's the face of this place. And I don't need to put mine out there more than it already is."

Selina nodded. Even if Bruce Wayne of Gotham was dead and erased from every database in the world, Bruce Wayne of the Bahamas still used the same name and bore a great resemblance to the man who had supposedly died in Gotham's riots two years ago. She understood why he wanted to stay shy of the press. "Still. It's all because of you that this place even exists."

Bruce smiled and glanced sideways at her. "It's also because of me that you have a seat on the board."

She paused and stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Very. I didn't think you'd mind. You'll just have to sit through boring meetings once or twice a month."

Selina shook her head, hiding her smile as she turned back to the window. "Sometimes I don't even know what to say, Mr. Wayne."

He grinned. "No words are necessary, Miss Kyle."

Bruce was about to take advantage of the day's good mood and mention how he was tiring of calling her by her father's last name when his phone rang. It was one of his newly hired staffers calling from a few floors down, alerting him to an issue they were having within the radiology department.

"I'll be right back," Bruce said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Some kind of power issue downstairs."

"Oh, can you take Helena with you?" Selina asked as he began to sprint away. "She'll wake up if she sits still for too long."

Bruce nodded and grabbed the handle of the stroller. "You can come with me if you want."

She nodded and started to follow him but then stopped short. "Crap. I left my bag in your office. I'll meet you down there."

"Okay," Bruce replied, and they parted ways.

* * *

Inside of Bruce's office, meanwhile, a man dressed in black and concealed behind a ski mask was sliding a gloved hand along a bookshelf lining one of the walls. His feet made no sound as they then carried him to the large desk to his left, side stepping some boxes that had yet to be unpacked. The office was largely bare, and he'd had yet to find a safe, which he'd doubted he would anyway.

His job was simple enough, and luckily he had two addresses to search for what he was looking for. He knew he would come up short here, but it wouldn't be in vain.

He slipped behind the desk and pulled out a small black case from his belt, opening it to retrieve several nearly microscopic surveillance devices. He placed one on the underside of the desk, and then straightened to get to work on tapping the phone when one of three framed photos on the desktop caught his eye.

It seemed that the hospital's administrator had seen fit to decorate his desk before bothering to unpack the rest of his belongings, and that wasn't odd, but the familiarity of a woman in one photograph was. It was a family photo, one of a man, woman, and small child, taken on the beach. He recognized the man as the one he'd been hired to dig up dirt on, but the woman... she looked just like someone he used to know quite well.

He tilted his head and looked more closely at the photo. Those eyes of hers were unmistakeable, but how could it be her?

He leaned back, unable to believe what he was seeing. Then there was a blow to the back of his neck, his head thudded down against the desk, and hands grabbed him and slammed him down on his back.

His mask was ripped off, and he found himself face to face with his old friend, Selina Kyle, whose big brown eyes became enormous as recognition dawned on her.

"_Eric_?"

He grinned, despite his now-woozy head. "Selina. How lovely to see you again, darling."

* * *

Selina's grip on the man's shirt loosened as she stared in shock. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

The last thing she'd expected to see when she pulled the ski mask off was a head full of long, sleek black hair, framing a face she used to know quite well. His eyes were as pale green as they ever were, and her name on his English-accented tongue still sounded like a cascade of effortless silk, just as it always had.

"I might ask you the same thing," he replied, still grinning. "By the way, you look as gorgeous as ever."

She rolled her eyes and released him, stepping back as he stood up to his full height. He towered over her, well over six feet tall, and she crossed her arms as she looked up at him. "Why are you here?"

"I was hired to do a job, of course," he replied, smoothing out his hair. "Why else?"

"What, to spy on my -"

"Husband?" he guessed. "Can't be. No ring on your finger."

She huffed impatiently. "Who hired you?"

"You're as evasive as ever."

"I like to get straight to the point, you know that," she retorted.

"Oh yes," he grinned. "I did always like it when you got down to business."

She groaned and rolled her eyes, hardly able to believe that this was happening. Today of all days, he shows up.

"Don't get like that, Selina," he replied, giving her a good-natured poke on her upper arm. "I'm simply here to find whatever dirt I can on the owner of this hospital. Whom I am assuming is the father of the child in the photo behind me."

"Congratulations, you're still capable of figuring out the obvious. Who hired you?"

His grin widened at her words. "Some rich old bastard who isn't fond of competition."

"Whitestone," Selina sighed. "I knew it as soon as I walked in and saw you."

Eric observed her irritated expression for a moment, then turned and reached under the desk. He removed each device he'd placed and then faced her again, holding then out to her. She opened her hand, and he dropped them into her palm. "I was on my way to your house next."

"My house?" she repeated. "How did he even get my address?"

Eric shrugged. "Beats me. But," he winked, "now I know where you live."

"Where I live with my daughter and her father," Selina pointed out.

"... Your point?"

Selina slowly closed her eyes. "You should probably leave before he comes looking for me."

"Why? I'd kind of like to meet the man who managed to do the impossible and got you to settle down. I can't believe you actually have a child. Have you become a pod person?"

"I still kicked your ass, didn't I?" she replied, eyebrow raised. "So you tell me."

He smiled. "I've missed you."

"I'm sure you have," Selina replied, a shadow of a smirk on her lips. "How's the... business?"

"Expanding," he said. "Which is why I'm here. Thought I'd give the islands a try."

"Whitestone must be paying you a lot to do something as mundane as snoop around on his competition," Selina noted. "I'm surprised someone as seasoned as you would even bother."

"Normally I wouldn't," Eric shrugged. "But a week in the Bahamas sounded tempting, indeed. Though I didn't expect it to be quite _this_ tempting." When Selina rolled her eyes in response, Eric added, "So you're really a mother now?"

"I really am," she replied. "Her name's Helena. Six months old."

He shook his head, though he still smiled. "Who would have thought it."

"I've been through a lot in the last few years," Selina said quietly. "We all have to grow up some time, right?"

"I suppose," he said. "It's good to see you again."

He then moved to embrace her, and she didn't stop him. He'd never been anything short of respectful in the years that she'd known him, despite the mouth on him that might lead one to think otherwise. And though she wasn't about to admit it to him, she'd sort of missed him too.

He was placing a kiss on her cheek as he pulled away when, of course, Bruce walked in with his usual impeccable timing. Selina saw him over Eric's shoulder, standing in the doorway, and she groaned as she gently pushed Eric away. "You just _had_ to do your little British cheek kiss, didn't you?"

"What?" Eric asked innocently. He then glanced over his shoulder and broke out into a smile. "Ah! You must be Bruce."

Bruce glared at him as he stepped inside the office, then turned his eyes to Selina. "Who the hell is _that_?" he demanded, opting to speak of the man as if he weren't directly in front of him.

"An old friend of mine who Whitestone hired to dig up dirt on you," Selina replied. "Where's Helena?"

"With Alfred," Bruce replied, turning his eyes back to the dark haired man. "Who are you?"

"What she said," Eric replied. Then he extended a hand to Bruce. "Eric."

Bruce didn't even look down at the other man's hand, and he certainly didn't shake it. Selina stepped forward and made Bruce take a step back, sensing that he was about to deck the slightly taller man. "Bruce. It's fine."

Bruce stared at her incredulously. "How do you know this guy?"

Selina opened her mouth to reply, but Eric beat her to it. "She hasn't spoken of me before? I'm hurt. Does he know anything about you at _all_, Selina?"

She held up a hand to Eric and closed her eyes. "Shut up." She then sighed and said to Bruce in a tone she hoped was quiet enough for only him to hear, "Remember our conversation we had at the hotel a couple months ago?"

Bruce shrugged impatiently, crossing his arms. "What's that have to do with-"

"Remember the thief I told you about?" she interrupted and said through gritted teeth.

He shook his head for a moment before his memory caught up with him. He glanced at Eric, who was still smiling obnoxiously while pretending to mind his own business, and then looked back at Selina, his eyes wide. "_That's_ the guy you -"

"Yes, so please just shut up and don't make this any more awkward."

"So you _did_ speak of me," Eric piped up, his tone gleeful.

Selina rolled her eyes. "I was whispering for a reason, you know."

"No need for it, though," Eric replied, stepping closer to the two of them. "I'm happy for the two of you, I am. No need to be jealous there, mate -" he patted Bruce's shoulder, earning another glare - "besides, if anything, you should be thanking me. I taught her most everything she knows."

Selina groaned again, and Bruce laughed, which made her far more nervous than another glare or growl would have. Bruce took a step forward and said, "Edward -"

"Eric."

"Right," Bruce grinned, "Look... you have no idea who I am."

Eric widened his eyes sarcastically. "Oh my - I'm shaking in my boots. Really, I am - look at them. Genuinely trembling."

Both men were smirking, and Selina was caught between the urge to throw up her hands and walk away and the urge to stay and watch because, if they started actually fighting, she might find it oddly kind of hot.

"Whitestone hired you," Bruce stated more than asked.

"He did. I've already given Selina the bugs I placed in your... lovely... office. So nothing to worry about. My loyalty is to her."

"What did he want you to find?"

"He merely said that nobody could have a record as clean or nonexistent as yours. He wanted to find whatever skeletons you've buried in your closet." Eric then looked at Selina and said, "_This_ is the man you let domesticate you?"

"This is the man who's only going to tell you once to not let me see you touching her again," Bruce replied.

"Or else?" Eric grinned. "Or else what?"

The thief then reached out and let his fingers graze over Selina's shoulder. He raised his eyebrows and kept up his obnoxious grin as he said, "Oops, touched her. Better beat my teeth in."

"Want me to?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Alright," Selina interrupted, standing between the two men, "lets dial back the testosterone, shall we? Bruce, he's not going to try anything. He's English. He kissed me on the cheek. Get over it." Then she turned to Eric. "And as for you, Bruce could beat you to an inch of your life within about two minutes or less. He's also the jealous type. So cut it out."

"I can do that," Eric replied cheerfully. "Fair enough. What do you say? Mates?"

His hand was extended towards Bruce again. Bruce looked down at it and groaned before turning and trudging towards the door. Eric then shrugged and turned to Selina. "I take that as a no. So, can I meet the little one?"

Selina rolled her eyes and started going after Bruce, after grabbing the bag that she'd come here to retrieve in the first place. Eric followed behind her, and she could tell by the stomp in Bruce's step that his day was no longer the celebratory one that it was supposed to be.

* * *

As bizarre as it was to bring an ex-lover who'd just tried to bug your current lover's office into the lobby of the hospital owned by the aforementioned current lover to meet your child, that was what Selina did, because she knew she'd never get rid of Eric if she didn't.

Alfred and Leslie were waiting in the lobby with a newly awakened Helena, and Molly was there too, having attended the opening to show her support and also to give herself something to do while Christian was away at work. All three pairs of eyes widened at the angry look on Bruce's face as well as at the presence of an unknown, extremely tall, black-haired man following behind Selina with an infectious grin.

Bruce walked to Alfred and crossed his arms as Selina grabbed Helena from Leslie and gave the intrigued-looking Molly a look before turning back to Eric.

"Here she is," Selina said flatly, hoping to get it over with quick, and Eric's expression became one of pure delight while Bruce seethed quietly to Alfred and shot the other man daggers through his eyes.

"Look at _you_!" Eric smiled broadly. Helena looked up at him with her big hazel eyes, cracking a smile that mirrored his own. "You're beautiful! Can I hold you?"

He held out his hands, and Selina expected Helena to shy away - she wasn't overly fond of strangers who got in her face - but instead, she merely smiled wider. And when Eric took her from Selina, she didn't protest.

Selina glanced behind her and saw that Bruce's angry look had become a bewildered and even angrier one. She rolled her eyes and turned them back to her daughter, who was batting her hands at Eric's face and giggling at him as he smiled broadly and cooed to her.

She watched in surprise - who knew he was such a natural with kids? - as Molly slowly crept up behind her, her jaw hanging slightly open as she stared at the handsome stranger.

"Who is _that_?" Molly whispered.

Selina glanced back at her friend and then turned her eyes back to Eric. "Eric, this is my friend, Molly. Molly, my old friend, Eric."

Eric looked at the little blonde woman and extended a hand, smiling his ridiculously charming smile. "Oh, very pleased to meet you."

Molly smiled and stared for a moment before shaking his hand. "You too."

He glanced down at her hand as he released it, noting the wedding set on her ring finger. "Married?"

"What? Oh, yeah."

He grinned. "Pity."

"Yeah," Molly grinned stupidly. "I mean, no."

Selina rolled her eyes. "She's pregnant too, not that you can tell." It really was hard to tell - at over three months pregnant, Molly wasn't showing at all yet. Or throwing up.

Molly giggled nervously and said, "... Okay, I'm gonna... go... nice to meet you."

Eric gave her a friendly nod as she turned and walked off. Then, out of nowhere, Bruce turned up in front of him and snatched Helena into his arms, then walked off without a word to accompany his glare.

"Right then," Eric said, eyes narrowing a bit. "I don't think you were kidding about the jealousy thing."

Selina shook her head. "Not at all."

"He should loosen up a bit," Eric said. "He seems a bit stiff for someone like you."

Selina rolled her eyes and retorted, "He's stiff in all the right ways, Eric."

"Ha!" he laughed. "There's a taste of the Selina I knew. I knew you were in there somewhere."

She smirked and gave him a pat on the arm. "See you around."

"I hope I do," Eric grinned. "Remember, I know where you live now. I might drop in sometime."

She walked away and he watched as she did, chuckling when she replied, "Visit at your own risk."

Outside of the hospital, Selina paused at the sight of Bruce buckling Helena into his car, the press long gone, and then a wide-eyed Molly was at her side.

"Okay, I'm serious, Selina - I am done meeting people you know. I'm done! I can't take it! It is officially ridiculous!"

Selina glanced at her friend and couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "You know, I actually agree with you this time."

"How do you know that guy? Who is he? Where did he come from?"

Selina sighed and started walking towards the car. "He's from London. He's a... entrepreneur. And I'll let you guess how I know him."

Molly's eyes widened. "Don't tell me he's your ex."

Selina paused and leaned in to her friend, half-whispering, "Ex friend with benefits."

Molly stared at Selina before letting out a cross between a whine and a squeak. "That's not fair! Seriously! I don't think I even like you anymore!"

* * *

Bruce barely spoke a word for the rest of the day. Selina let him be, knowing her history with Eric was only a small basis for his anger. It was simply the cherry on top of Whitestone's meddling that made what was supposed to be a celebratory night a quietly fuming one instead.

She could see his mind working a mile a minute as he sat typing on his laptop in the corner of their bedroom, while she nursed Helena to sleep. His jaw was set hard and his brows knit together, fingers jabbing at the keys as if they'd wronged him somehow.

If nothing else, she hoped that she could at least alleviate some of his stress.

Once Helena was fast asleep, Selina picked her up and placed her in the crib that they'd side-carred to their bed when she'd outgrown the bassinet a few months ago. She was out of her earlier, nice clothes, and dressed in an oversized blue hoodie and pair of small black shorts as she made her way over to Bruce.

She approached him and gently pressed down on the computer's lid. He looked up at her and let her close it, then sighed as she set it aside on the floor and climbed on to his lap.

"You okay?" she asked, taking his face into her hands.

"Just angry," he muttered. His hands fell to her hips, but his grip was light and distracted.

"We knew he'd try to interfere somehow, eventually," Selina said. "At least he didn't plant a bomb, or... hire a sniper or something. Which is more what you're used to."

"I don't want people to figure out who I am," Bruce said softy. "I don't want Helena to grow up with cameras in her face."

"She won't. Your records are gone. Your fingerprints are gone. They can't connect you to Gotham."

"I'm using the same name, Selina," Bruce sighed. "And there's facial recognition software. Fingerprints don't mean a lot these days."

"So we stay a step ahead of him," Selina suggested. "We got lucky that he hired Eric, of all the guys he could have chosen. Nobody else would have done what he did for us today."

Bruce's expression darkened at that. "I don't want to hear that guy's name."

"Oh, come on, Bruce," Selina smiled. "Are you really that jealous?"

Bruce pursed his lips and moved her aside, then got to his feet. She watched him walk out of the room, scowling, then followed him.

He went to the kitchen and she stayed on his heels, leaning against the island at the kitchen's center when he started rummaging through the cabinets for a glass. She crossed her arms and said, "Well?"

"Well what?" he asked, not bothering to look behind him.

She watched as he filled up a glass from the tap and said, "I'm still waiting for an answer."

He turned around and eyed her somewhat wearily. "Can you just drop it?"

"Have I ever been known to 'just drop it'?"

Bruce half-rolled his eyes. "You were right when you told him I'm the jealous type. I am. There isn't a lot more to say about it."

"I haven't seen him in years. Not since before Bane. It's kind of ridiculous for you to act like that when you know he's not a threat. Nobody is."

"I know that," Bruce scoffed. "That's not the point."

"So what _is_ the point?"

He took a drink from the glass and then shook his head. "There's no point."

He tried to walk away. She rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt and pushed him back against the sink. "Are you going to make me drag it out of you?"

"I actually just want to go to bed, if you don't mind."

She met his eyes and replied in a low tone, "I do mind."

She grabbed the glass out of his hand and set it aside, then walked backwards and took him with her. When her back hit the island, she easily hopped on top of it, and drew him to stand between her legs. "Does the thought of another man touching me a couple years ago really bother you _that_ much?"

Her one hand was still gripping his shirt, while the other brushed his hair behind his ears as his hands found her hips again. "If I think about it, it makes me want to beat him to a pulp."

The idea that suddenly sprang forth in her mind was a little bit cruel but irresistible. She simply couldn't help herself.

"So," she purred, "it bothers you that there used to be someone else who knew what I like? Who knew how I like to be kissed and touched..."

She pulled him forward as she spoke, trailed her lips over the side of his neck, and with each word she spoke, she knew she crawled deeper under his skin.

Her lips reached his ear as she continued, "... Can you not stand to think about me in another man's bed... moaning someone else's name..."

Suddenly his hand grabbed the back of her hair and yanked her head back. He looked her dead in the eye as he growled, "Shut up."

"Make me," she challenged back.

"You don't want me to do that."

"I'll be the judge of that," she replied. Then she decided to poke at him further and really get herself into trouble. "_Eric_ always trusted me to know what I wanted. Maybe you could learn something from him."

Then she was in the air, in his arms as he spun them around and then placed her ungently on the kitchen counter. The back of her head bounced off the cabinet a little bit, which made her grin as he growled, "I told you, I do _not_ want to hear his name out of your mouth."

His eyes were dark and a little wild, his grip a little too tight, and she loved it. "Sure about that? Sure you don't want me to tell you about all the different ways he had me... all the different times, different places... how he could make me scream with just his -"

Bruce's lips crashed hard on to hers, shutting her up, and she threw her arms around his neck and crushed him even closer against her. She knew what she was in for, and she enjoyed the way her skin tingled and trembled with anticipation - after the day he'd had, she wanted to give him a way to gain his control back. She didn't want him to feel vulnerable to Whitestone's scheming or to think about past lovers of hers showing up and having the audacity to hold his child and flirt with Selina in front of him. She wanted to remind him of who he was, what he was, and the place he had in her life that nobody and nothing could threaten. And the best way she could think to do that was to drive him so crazy with jealousy that he'd unleash his primal, possessive side and prove to her, and himself, that nobody was in control besides him.

Between his bruising, rough, unrelenting kisses, he gave her hair another yank and breathed against her mouth, "Did _he_ ever make you come five times in one night?"

She grinned against his mouth, recalling the times she kept him up all night in the late stages of pregnancy. He wasn't even remembering it properly. The record was six times, when she'd kept him up for as many hours one night and couldn't walk the next day as a result. "His best was twice."

He pushed her hoodie up and over her head, revealing the bare skin underneath, no bra to bother with the removal of. She arched her back as his lips moved down her neck, over her throat and collarbone, his tongue flicking out here and there as he went, finally settling between her breasts.

"Did he ever make you come just by doing this?" he asked, looking up at her as he took a nipple into his mouth. Her eyes closed at the sensation as she reeled at how sensitive she still was there, feeling the throbbing between her legs reach new heights as his tongue swirled and flicked just enough to make her moan. The memory of being in the backseat of a rental car, topless on his lap, in the parking lot of a restaurant as he made her see stars just by doing this, in the fall of last year flooded her mind.

"Definitely not," she choked out, then nearly whimpered when he broke the contact.

He brought his face level with hers again and growled, "Is he anywhere near your mind when I'm touching you? When I'm inside you?"

She shook her head. "Never. Never, Bruce."

Then she was clinging to him as he picked her up again, and before she knew it she was being slammed down on their dinner table. She looked up to watch him pull his shirt over his head, and then he was on her, his hands at her breasts, his bare skin to hers, his lips claiming hers yet again.

She looked up at him when his lips left hers and his hands took hers and placed them over her head, pinning them to the table. She arched her back, rubbing up against him as much as she could as he looked down at her with that wild gleam in his eye. "I almost lost it today when I saw him kissing your cheek... and the way he looked at you..."

"What did you want to do?" she inquired innocently as she raised her knee and let it rub and tease between his legs.

"Beat the smirk off his face," Bruce growled, moving his hips against the friction. "Then maybe take you right there, on my desk, make him watch... make sure he never forgot who you belong to..."

She grinned devilishly. "All that just from one innocent kiss? God forbid if he'd tried something else..."

His hand grabbed her leg then, pushing it down on the table and preventing it from touching him again. "He wouldn't have walked out of the hospital if he had."

Then she felt his hands meet between her hips, and heard the rip of fabric as well as felt it, before he tossed away her ruined shorts and panties. She lay there on the table exposed under his eyes, vulnerable, at his mercy, keeping her hands above her head even though his grip no longer kept them there.

He could see, quite clearly, that his next action wasn't necessary, and she could feel it as clearly as he could see it, but he took his hand and ran it up her body anyway, stopping at her mouth. She parted her lips and let him place two of his fingers into her mouth, and she closed her eyes as she sucked on them gently.

The feel of her mouth, warm and moist as it wet his fingers, sent a jolt through Bruce's body, almost made him forget what he was doing in the first place. She opened her eyes and looked fearlessly into his, sliding her tongue and alternating suction as if it weren't his fingers but another part of him in her mouth. Then he realized that he was letting her take away his advantage, so he gritted his teeth, and withdrew his fingers.

She gasped when those same fingers found her arousal, hot and ready and dying for the contact, and he didn't waste any time teasing her. He rubbed and prodded and circled her, nipping at her neck as she grasped at his hair, almost overwhelmed by his efforts, softly moaning his name as he made her race to the edge.

He watched and waited, waited until she held her breath and closed her eyes, the signal he'd learned to watch for, and then he stopped. Her eyes snapped open, but before she could utter a word of protest, he scooped her back up into his arms and pushed her against a smooth portion of the wall between their pantry and refrigerator.

Her legs wrapped around his waist automatically, and she started attacking the button and zipper of his jeans. He let her push the remaining fabric down his hips before he grabbed her hands and placed them against the wall. He stared at her, took in the desperate and frustration in her eyes, enjoyed the way she quivered and tensed around him, and he thought about torturing a bit longer. Punish her some more for doing everything in her power to push him to this point. But instead, he brought his hands to her hips, pushed her an inch or two farther up the wall, and slammed into her.

She let out a satisfying, ragged yelp, and her hands flew to his back, where her nails sunk in instinctively. Normally he'd give her a moment to regroup, but instead, he drew back and then pounded her again, and again, over and over, delirious at the pure need and thoughtlessness of it all.

She tried to match his movements but she could barely even hold on to him, barely speak or form a single coherent word as he took her harder than he had since that first time after Helena's birth. She thought this time might take the cake, though, and then she gasped in surprise when he picked her up again without separating himself from her.

She panted and tried to suck in huge breaths during the respite, but then he set her down on her feet, and her weak knees nearly buckled underneath her. He caught her, then gave her one last burning, almost intimidating look before turning her around and bending her over the dinner table. She hadn't even been coherent enough to realize that that was where he'd taken her until she found herself staring at dark wood underneath her.

Her body screamed in relief when he entered her again, not quite as rough as before, and she let out a low moan as his hands held her hips in place. Then one of those hands moved up her back and then fisted in her hair, and a few thrusts later, he used it to yank her up against his chest.

She heard his voice as a menacing growl in her ear, identical to the one he used to use to frighten common street criminals. "Like this?"

"Love this," she panted, holding his hair with one hand as he kissed hard down her neck, biting hard enough to leave plenty of marks for later. Then he grunted and pushed her forward again, flat on the table, and pressed his chest to her back as he kept up the frenzied pace.

She was vaguely aware of the way the table was slowly but surely skidding across the hardwood floor, the table legs shaking and croaking under the assault of their movements, but then all comprehension went out the window when one of his hands slipped between her legs and started propelling her into oblivion. He was also biting at the back of her shoulder, lost in his own chorus of muffled curses and deep groans, and when she went spiraling over the edge, she was too far gone to hear him almost choke on his own ridiculously powerful pleasure.

Her pulsing faded slowly, his did even more reluctantly, and by the time they had finally reached their exhausted, utterly sated ends, neither pair of legs could hold them up anymore. Bruce wrapped his arms around her waist as he panted against the back of her neck, then slid them both down to the floor.

Selina collapsed against his chest, already feeling the somewhat enjoyable soreness in her thighs that she'd be feeling the full effect of tomorrow. His hand gently smoothed down her wild, damp hair, then tilted her chin up to make her look him in the eyes.

"That turned out even better than I'd hoped," Selina grinned lazily. "Feel better now?"

He didn't grin back. "You shouldn't manipulate me like that. I can't always control myself when I get like that."

"That's the point," she replied. "And you can, and do, control yourself. That's why I said all that crap about Eric. I knew it would get under your skin and drive you crazy. I thought you could use a chance to regain some... control, after today."

Bruce furrowed his brows. "Gain control by losing control?"

"You're never really out of control," Selina replied softly. "You love me too much to hurt me. But that doesn't mean there isn't a side to you that's incredibly wild and a little violent and... possessive. Jealous to a ridiculous extreme."

"I'm not exactly proud of that side of me."

Selina touched his cheek, tracing the corner of his mouth with her thumb. "I love every side of you."

He kissed her softly, such a contrast to the way that he had only moments ago. Then his eyes swept down her body, darkening in displeasure at the sight of already-forming bruises on her hips in the shape of his fingertips. But before he could express his dismay and she could assure him that she wouldn't have had it any other way, Helena's cries from down the hall roused them from their haze.

Selina smirked and sat up, running a hand along his chest as she said, "Well, at least she waited until we were done."

She stood first, then helped him get to his feet. They gathered up their clothes - for Selina, just her hoodie, since he'd torn the rest - and then headed down the hall towards their room. And Selina noted, as she walked behind Bruce, that his shoulders weren't quite as tense as they had been before.

* * *

The next morning, Selina awoke earlier than both Bruce and Helena, just as the sun was rising outside of the glass doors of her bedroom. Helena had ended up in their bed at some point during the night, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and was snuggled up to Bruce's side with a tiny, pink-socked foot slung over his stomach. Selina snapped a picture of the two of them on her phone before slipping silently out of bed.

She went through her usual morning routine in the bathroom, quietly mulling over the events of the previous day - some of which made her grin, while others made her merely shake her head or scowl - and nothing about the morning was out of the usual until she reached for her bottle of birth control pills out of her medicine cabinet.

She held the half-full bottle in her hands and stared at it for a moment, her mind switching gears and turning to those other thoughts that had been weighing heavily on her ever since that day she'd spent at Norma's house.

She hadn't breathed a word of any of it to Bruce, but she'd been giving the old ladies' points some serious thought. A part of her was horrified at the idea of becoming pregnant again, but another part knew that deep down, she _did_ want to give Bruce one more child. The valid points made by both Bruce and the neighbors wafted through her head - the ones about the benefits of Helena having a sibling, pregnancy being easier the younger you are, the perks of having kids close in age - and then Eric's fitting question also managed to boomerang through her mind. _Have you become a pod person?_

She shook her head and looked at her reflection. She was _actually_ considering this.

Then she glanced down at the pill bottle, still in her hands, and paused. A moment or two later, she placed it back into the medicine cabinet, unused, then padded back out to her bedroom.

She passed her dresser, upon which lay a black book of photos from the photoshoot with Molly a few months ago. The pictures had turned out beautifully, of course, and she and Bruce had both been stunned when they saw the finished products. Molly had then done some family portraits for them, as well as some of just Helena, and their walls were slowly filling up with tons of framed photos.

Selina grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and looked up at one of the framed pictures, a larger one, that hung above the dresser. It was one of the tamer ones from the shoot, a darkened one of Bruce between Selina and their bedroom wall, kissing her as she pulled on his tie. She sighed as she let her eyes then drift to a much smaller photo, the singed, torn one of Thomas and Martha Wayne that Bruce kept sitting on the dresser in a simple, equally battered frame.

Above their bed still hung the large photo of Selina laying in Bruce's arms on the beach, very pregnant, and with one short glance to it, Selina tightened her grip on her phone and walked through the glass doors to the deck outside.

She thought about calling Molly, then realized that the hormonal and already overly happy girl would simply scream joyously in her ear and tell her _yes, yes, get pregnant as soon as possible and then we can pig out together!_

She could try Anita, but it was very early and it wasn't generally a good idea to interrupt a single, working mother's precious sleep.

Then she realized that her choice was obvious when she glanced east and saw lights on in Alfred and Leslie's house.

_Leslie, of course_. She shoved her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants and then bounded down the wooden steps into the sand. A moment later, she was standing on the older woman's doorstep, wearing an odd expression as Leslie opened the door.

"You're up early," Leslie remarked. "Is everything all right?"

"... I might have just made an incredibly stupid decision."

Leslie paused and pursed her lips. "I have to be at the hospital in an hour. So you'll have to try to explain what that means in a very short amount of time."

"I think I'm going to try to get pregnant again."

Leslie's eyes widened by just a fraction. "Oh Lord." Then she stopped back and opened the door fully. "Come on in, dear."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: my usual thanks to all of you, as always! :D not a lot to say here, other than I love all of you, and I hope everyone can take the fluff going on in this chapter :) I got a toothache writing it. Haha :) **

Summer came and went, in a blur of disgustingly hot days and a workload so tiring that sleep became a thing of the past. Helena was only a small contributing factor to this, having reached a point in her young life where she no longer woke up four times a night. Instead, it was the combined stresses of Bruce running a hospital and Selina running a women's shelter while also trying to competently parent a child and not neglect one another in the process that did them in.

Bruce was not the type to hand of most of his workload to his chief of medicine and go home at three every day; he micromanaged every last detail of the hospital's operations. Meanwhile, Selina put the shelter's budget to new and needed uses, remodeling the entire place and replacing the ragged sign outside with one that was not missing letters or falling apart. She continued to teach self defense classes twice a week, and was even interviewed by a local newspaper for her innovative approach to her work. Recognition was nice but it wasn't as satisfying as watching the women she taught take control of their lives and get one step closer to independence.

In the midst of this, Helena was usually with one of her parents as they worked. Half of Bruce's office was full of toys and snacks to keep the growing baby occupied on days that he insisted Selina let him have her, so she could work in peace. The rest of the time, Helena was in Selina and Anita's shared office, which also doubled as a playroom for both of their children. It was unconventional and difficult at times, and they knew that they could easily leave Helena with Alfred or Molly during the day, but neither wanted to. One of the nurses on Bruce's payroll made a passing comment about them practicing "attachment parenting", and Bruce shrugged it off. It didn't sound like a bad thing to him.

Bruce turned 41 a few months before Selina turned 29, and a few days after Selina's birthday, Helena took her first steps. She was only nine months old, and hadn't bothered to crawl yet, but one day, as the family enjoyed a rare mutual day off and spent part of it playing with their daughter on the beach, Helena spotted a bird hopping through the sand and got so excited that she tried to hobble off after it. Within a week, she was running.

Helena also decided around that same time that she was done nursing, which left Selina feeling oddly bereft but also relieved. She missed the bond that nursing allowed, and missed the quiet nights where Helena would doze off to sleep in the middle of a feeding, happy and full. Now she fell asleep on her own accord, but usually in either hers or Bruce's arms, and it was a bittersweet change. Now Selina had all of her body back for the first time since becoming pregnant, and was free to to take cold medicine if she became sick or have a second glass of something if she wanted it. Still, she hadn't been quite as ready as Helena was to give nursing up.

As busy as they were keeping up with work and Helena's rapid growth, they actively made sure not to drift apart from one another. They saw how easy it could have been to do so, how having so many other priorities could have turned them into mere partners rather than lovers, but they were both creative when it came to finding time for each other. Sometimes it was the more conventional method of leaving Helena with Alfred for a night while they headed to the mainland or just stayed at home in bed next door. Other times, Selina dropped Helena off in Leslie's office on her lunch break and then sauntered up to Bruce's office for a few stolen moments that left them both in infinitely better moods and sporting telltale grins that few others missed.

Selina would have thought that her suddenly packed schedule would have made her feel overwhelmed and possibly like she was drowning, but she felt nothing of the sort. For once, she felt quite on top of everything, satisfactorily balanced, and the only thing she remained unsure of was of her half-hearted decision to try to get pregnant again.

She told nobody but Leslie about it, and every day she would change her mind about the wisdom of it. Some days she'd start to panic and would take one of her birth control pills; others she wouldn't. She knew she was playing Russian roulette, and she knew she should probably also tell Bruce about it, but every time she tried, she stopped short. She wasn't sure why, but the idea of surprising him with a second child that she'd told him he would never get seemed to be sweet enough to keep her mouth shut.

So, she kept spinning the cylinder and pulling the trigger, and watched as the seasons passed. Before she knew it, another year was over and done with, and her daughter's first birthday had arrived.

* * *

Rain was beating down outside, hitting the window in Bruce's office like endless little pebbles, and the occasional rumble of thunder accompanied the soundtrack as Selina bit her lip to keep from moaning as Bruce moved against her. She was under him, on his desk, her skirt pushed up to her waist and blouse on the floor, heels still on, her hands under his open shirt and on his back, and he was just as disheveled, but taking her more gently than he ever had before on a wooden surface.

Normally these things were quick and to the point, since they really could only afford short lunches, but she'd known she was in for something different as soon as she'd slipped into his office today. She'd lowered herself down on his lap as he leaned back in his chair, few words of greeting spoken between them, and instead of getting her clothes ripped off and getting slammed down on his desk, as per usual, he'd kissed her slowly and tenderly, and touched her so softly that it made her shiver in surprise.

She'd once told him she was a girl of many moods, and he was a man of just as many, and sometimes she had to admit that nothing in the world was better than being made love to by him. Even if it was on his desk at work, with a random, sharp pen cap digging into her lower back as he rocked gently into her.

He raised his head from her neck to kiss her lips, tasting her deeply as she felt the tension inside start to reach a head. She moved faster against him, and he followed suit, panting as he drew back an inch to gulp in a breath of air, grabbing the edges of the desk as he did to maintain leverage. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, his vision sweeping over her flushed cheeks and parted, red-smeared lips, grinning just a fraction when her eyes opened and met his. She shook her head slightly but grinned back, then brought his face down to hers for another greedy kiss.

He knew she was there when her mouth fell slack against his and her breath started coming in rapid spurts. She let out a soft moan that she couldn't control, and he clamped his hand down over her mouth before returning to her neck and letting his own release wash over him.

They lay like that, spent and trying to catch their breaths, for a hazy moment after, and her lips gently kissing the palm of his hand roused him enough to remove his hand from her mouth and let it trail down.

He raised his head and looked softly down at her, taking his thumb and wiping off the lipstick that had bled from her lips to her skin in the course of their kissing. She kissed his thumb, and he smiled. "You are... exceptionally beautiful today."

"You're not so bad yourself," she replied, her tone low as she smoothed down his hair. It was the same length now as when she had first met him, and he was keeping his jaw cleanly shaven these days. She thought it made him look younger, but maybe that was the happiness in his eyes.

He continued to help put her back together, pulling up the bra that he'd yanked down and raising the straps over her shoulders, taking the opportunity to kiss her breast as he did.

She winced a little at the contact. He felt it rather than saw it, and looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "They just kind of hurt today."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said as he leaned over the desk and picked up her top from the floor. "They've been hurting all week, actually."

He got to his feet then, fixing his pants as she sat up and pulled her top back on. "That's weird. Sorry, I didn't know."

She shrugged. "Don't be sorry."

He started buttoning up his shirt as she stood up, pulling her underwear back on and then pulling her skirt down. Then she yawned, and Bruce grinned, "Ready for a nap now?"

"Don't flatter yourself there, Mister Hospital-Owner," she replied playfully. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"Sorry," he said, pulling her into his arms now that they were both decent again. "I'll have to do a better job of wearing you out."

He kissed her, and though Selina knew she'd have to get on her way in a few moments, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let the kiss linger, knowing they wouldn't have a single moment alone until much later that night.

He kissed her cheek after his lips left hers, then drew back to look at her. "Can you believe our baby's a year old today?"

She shook her head. "No, I can't. And I can't believe I'm going to be thirty this year."

"Thirty's not bad," Bruce pointed out. "I was thirty almost twelve years ago. So don't complain to me about thirty."

She smiled. "Sometimes I forget how much of an old man you are."

"And why's that?" he asked, his hand slipping down past her hip to give her backside a little squeeze.

The sound of his locked office door resisting being opened by someone shook them out of the playful moment, and they both looked to the door. Then there was a knock, and Selina narrowed her eyes. "Who would have tried to come in without even knocking first?"

Bruce glanced at her, equally puzzled, and muttered, "I don't know."

His arm left her waist and he started to walk away but she quickly pulled him back by his hand. "Wait a minute."

She then swiftly zipped up his fly, which he'd managed to overlook somehow, and gave him a grin as he chuckled and walked off towards the door again. Selina ran her fingers through her hair, making sure it didn't look too messed up, and watched as Bruce unlocked and then opened the door.

"Oh. Doctor Aleksandrov."

His tone was polite, but the voice that Selina heard reply was feminine and heavily accented, and a little frantic sounding.

"I am so sorry to bother you, Mr. Wayne, but I -"

Selina took a few steps forward and caught a glimpse of the woman over Bruce's shoulder. Both women's eyes met at the same time, and the doctor stopped short.

The woman was stunning, there was no denying it. Long, dark red hair and a face with barely a touch of makeup and not in need of any, tall and staring at Selina with eyes that appeared to be as gray as the storm clouds outside.

"Doctor?" Bruce asked, and the woman looked back to him.

"I'm sorry. I must have interrupted... something. I'll go."

"I was just leaving," Selina piped up. Bruce stood aside a bit as she placed herself to his and the doctor's side. She then extended her hand to the redhead. "I'm Selina."

The woman's expression changed instantly, becoming friendly as she shook Selina's hand. "Doctor Inessa Aleksandrov."

She pronounced it like _ee-nessa_, and Selina nodded politely. "Nice to meet you. Are you Russian?"

"I am."

Bruce stood there with his hands in his pockets, oblivious to the way Selina was sizing up the other woman. Anyone who looked as good as Inessa did and also had no qualms about bursting into Bruce's office without so much as a knock was instantly worthy of Selina's suspicion and dislike. "What brings you here?"

Inessa's expression changed a bit then, and her eyes flickered down for a moment before she said, "Work. Of course."

Selina nodded, then glanced at Bruce. "Well. I'll be on my way then. It was nice to meet you, Doctor."

Inessa gave an obligatory smile, then watched as Selina kissed Bruce goodbye. When they parted and Selina glanced at her, Inessa looked away.

Selina gave Bruce a pointed look before walking away. He stared blankly at her, clearly not understanding her meaning, then turned to the doctor and said, "Sorry - come on in."

He left the door open and let her walk in first. She sighed and placed her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat and said, "I am truly sorry - I should have knocked, I don't know what I was thinking."

Bruce's eyes flickered to his desk - bare, the floor around it littered with a few papers and pens, an obvious giveaway of what had happened on it - and he cleared his throat. "It's fine. What's going on?"

He saw her look at the desk as well, and she made no move to sit anywhere near it, so they simply stood in the middle of the office. "I know I'm overreacting right now, but I panicked, and..."

"Doctor," Bruce interrupted, though kindly.

She looked up at him and sighed again. "It's my ex. I don't know how, but he found me here, and he's been calling all day. One of the nurses told me and I just... I panicked."

He crossed his arms and searched his memory, recalling when he'd hired the doctor a few months ago and trying to remember what he knew of her ex. If he was correct in his vague memory, she'd taken the job here to get away from her ex, who had been following her off and on for the last few years. She left Russia some time ago and went to Paris, then left Paris for Nassau when he'd turned up there as well. "Is he here?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. But he left a message saying he would be soon."

Bruce nodded. "I see. Do you have any kind of restraining order against him?"

"I did in Russia," she replied. "In Paris I didn't. Here I don't, obviously. I just thought I was finally rid of him. It had been months and not a word. I don't know how he even found me."

"All right. I'll do what I can to make sure he doesn't bother you here," Bruce said, "but you've got to take some legal action to keep him from getting any further."

She nodded. "I know. Thank you. And again, I'm really sorry that I bothered you. I feel very... foolish."

He shrugged. "Don't. Really, don't."

She nodded, chancing another glance at the desk. "You are very kind. I'll go now."

He nodded. "All right. How's Miss Johnson doing?"

He walked her to the door as she replied, "Much better. I finally managed to get her meds into her, so she's much calmer now. Another day or two and she'll be ready for transfer."

"Good," Bruce nodded as they reached the door.

She smiled. "Thanks again."

He nodded as she headed out of the door and down the hall. He then turned and looked again at his desk. This time he laughed under his breath, then went about cleaning the mess up.

Meanwhile, Inessa passed the chief of medicine's office on her way back to the psych floor, and caught a glimpse of Selina picking up a smiling and giggling baby girl. She paused for the briefest of moments, just long enough for Selina to notice. Then she turned and kept on her way.

Selina rolled her eyes. Bruce was too oblivious to notice, but she could see the Russian's crush a mile away.

* * *

Now in her ninth month of pregnancy, Molly was exhausted, restless, and excited all at the same time. She'd been going crazy sitting at home and waiting for her baby - a boy - to arrive, and in her quest for something to do, ended up volunteering at Selina's shelter a few days a week.

Today was one of those days, and when Selina came back with Helena from the hospital, she made a beeline for her office.

Anita was out helping a mother and two kids who had just arrived, and Molly had a bit of downtime, so she followed Selina as soon as she saw her.

Helena was down on the floor next to Selina's desk, laughing excitedly as she grabbed some of her toys that were scattered on the floor, when Molly came waddling into the room. "Well, _that_ was a long lunch."

Selina looked up at her friend and then placed her head down on her desk. "Ugh. I have to teach a class in an hour and all I want to do is sleep."

Molly got down on the floor - slowly and carefully, and with great effort - and smiled brightly at Helena as she picked up one of her toys to play with her. Then she glanced up at Selina with a raised brow and said, "So, an extra long lunch, and you come back all tired and missing an earring. Gotcha."

"I'm not..." Selina quickly grabbed at her ears, "... Damn it. How did you even notice that?"

Molly shrugged. "I'm just good like that. You're so bad."

Selina grinned and pretended to pay attention to the papers in front of her. "Gotta keep him on his toes."

"Right," Molly chuckled.

Without a word, a harried looking Anita rushed in the room, dropped Kylie on the floor next to Helena, and then darted back out. The two little girls grinned at each other, and Selina stifled a laugh. "Looks like you're playing babysitter today."

"Fine with me," Molly smiled. "These girls help me not lose it waiting for Klondike to pop out."

Klondike was Molly's nickname for her as-yet-unnamed baby boy, inspired by the truckload of Klondike bars she'd begun consuming almost immediately after becoming pregnant. She hadn't thrown up once, and had been enjoying the world's easiest pregnancy, to the envy of every other woman in the world.

The next time she looked up to the suddenly silent Selina, Molly found her asleep face down on the desk. She smiled and called softly, "Selina..."

Her eyes popped open and she raised her head with a jerk, looking around for a moment, a bit disoriented. Then she groaned and dropped her head back down.

"Do you need me to get you a Red Bull?" Molly laughed as Selina straightened and sank back into her chair.

"Maybe... I am so tired. All the time."

"Bruce keeping you up all night?"

Selina shook her head. "No, actually. And Helena sleeps through the night now. I'm the one who can't sleep. And even when I can, I'm still exhausted all day."

"I haven't felt like that since I first got pregnant," Molly said. Then a moment passed and both women looked at each other. Molly's eyes widened and she half-gasped, "Oh my God!"

Selina stared at her for a moment before grabbing her phone off the desk and checking the date. She was counting in her head when Molly asked, "Aren't you on the pill?"

"Depends on your definition of 'on'," Selina muttered, counting a second time.

"Huh?"

Selina sighed and set the phone down. "I haven't been taking it every day."

"Why?"

"I... kind of want to get pregnant and kind of don't. I've been changing my mind almost every day."

Molly gaped at her friend. "Oh my God. Are you late?"

Selina nodded. "And my boobs hurt."

Molly's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my _God_! Selina! Oh my - okay, watch the girls, I'm going next door and getting you a test."

"You don't have to do th-"

Molly bounded up to her feet miraculously and almost impossibly, then sang as she sprinted out of the office, "Yes I do, and you have nothing to say about it!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the girls under Anita's watchful eye, Molly dragged Selina into the shelter's bathroom and then shoved a pink box at her. "Here you go. Take it."

Selina took the box and took a breath. "I can't believe I'm already doing this again. I'm out of my mind."

"Yeah, and indecisive, but whatever," Molly said cheerfully, pushing her into a stall. "Take the damn test!"

Selina rolled her eyes and took another deep breath, closing the stall door and looking down at the box again warily. She already knew - the test felt like a formality at this point.

A moment later, she emerged from the stall, test in hand, and walked to the sinks. She set the test down and crossed her arms, not even aware of how her foot was tapping impatiently as Molly stood next to her.

Both pairs of eyes were fixed on the test as Molly spoke. "Does Bruce know?"

Selina shook her head. "Nope."

"Does he want another baby?"

Selina nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you though? Honestly."

Selina sighed. "I want Helena to have a brother or sister. I'm not particularly thrilled about turning into a raging fat cow again... no offense..."

"None taken," Molly laughed. "I'm more like a whale than a cow, anyway."

"Is that a line?"

Molly leaned forward and peered at the test. "Yep. But we still have two minutes for the other one to pop up."

Selina nodded and sighed. "How ironic if I find out I'm pregnant on Helena's birthday."

"How ironic if you end up being a baby factory," Molly snickered.

Selina glared at the blonde. "That's not even funny. If I _am_ pregnant, I'm done after this."

"Like how you were done the last time?"

Selina sharpened her glare. "Two kids. That's my limit."

"What if it's twins?"

Selina's eyes became comically wide, and Molly started laughing heartily. "That's not even funny, Molly. Don't even say that word again. You'll curse me or something."

"Oh, yeah right -"

"Son of a bitch."

"What?"

Molly followed Selina's eyes to the test, where a second line had indeed just appeared. She squealed and jumped up and down, as much as she could with her enormous belly, then turned to Selina. "Oh my God! You _are_ pregnant!"

Selina let the other woman pull her into a crushing hug as the truth settled in over her. It wasn't a shock this time, of course, but it still took a moment for her to absorb, and a part of her wondered what the hell she'd just gotten herself into. The other part thought about the look on Bruce's face when she'd tell him, and that gave her a little push of courage.

Suddenly Molly pulled back, holding Selina by her shoulders, and she gasped with an enthusiastic smile. "How are you going to tell Bruce?"

* * *

Selina tapped the steering wheel impatiently, waiting in front of the hospital for Bruce to emerge. Helena was knocked out in her car seat, and Selina took a moment to reach behind her seat to grab her phone out of her purse. When she straightened again, she looked to the hospital entrance once more, and this time saw Bruce walking out with the Russian doctor by his side.

Selina stifled a groan at the sight - the woman was giving off some serious red flags on Selina's slut radar - but she waved back when Inessa bade Bruce farewell and waved to Selina. Then, when Inessa turned her back, Selina groaned and rolled her eyes.

Bruce got in the car a moment later, leaning over to give Selina a kiss and glance back at his sleeping daughter. "Hey."

"Hi," Selina replied, putting the car into gear and controlling the urge to blurt out her news. Later, she reminded herself.

"You look tired."

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically, casting him a sideways glare. "Always what a girl wants to hear. So why was Miss Russian walking you out?"

"She wasn't walking me out," Bruce replied. "We were leaving at the same time."

"Right," Selina muttered, noting the slightly puzzled look on his face. "You're oblivious, you know that?"

"No I'm not."

"You are," she insisted. "I literally watched her put the pieces together in her head - locked door, empty desk, me behind you - and she looked disappointed."

"Well," Bruce quipped, "maybe if I had a ring on my finger, I wouldn't have women trying to sink their claws into me."

Selina scoffed. "Rings don't mean the same thing to everyone that they do to you. But nice try."

"Thanks," Bruce grinned.

Selina shook her head but grinned a little bit. "Really, though. You'll see. One day she'll make a move. Mark my words."

"What makes you so sure?"

"When you opened the door and she looked at you," Selina explained. "You might not have seen it, but I did. What did she want with you, anyway?"

"She's got some crazy ex chasing her across the world," Bruce shrugged. "He was making harassing phone calls to the hospital."

Selina stopped at a red light, then eyed a fast food restaurant up ahead. "And she ran to you to do what?"

Bruce shrugged. "Do what I can to keep him away."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Ugh... hey do you mind if I stop up there and get something?"

"... No," Bruce replied.

"Good, because I am starving," Selina said, then added absently, "I've been starving all day."

Then she paused and glanced at Bruce out of the corner of her eye. He didn't think much of her declaration of constant hunger, so she swallowed and moved on.

_Later_, she thought. _I'll tell him later._

* * *

Helena's first birthday party was a small little affair, attended by the same folks who had come to her christening minus Lucius and Gordon, the former of whom was in California for a business summit, and the latter of which claimed to be in the midst of an investigation that required his full attention. Bruce and Selina's house was decorated in a ridiculously cute and girly array of pink that gave one the impression that Hello Kitty had puked all over the place, but since it was a little baby girl's first birthday, nothing else was appropriate. It also so happened that it was a joint birthday party, since Helena and Kylie shared birth dates.

Molly had volunteered to make the cakes, and she baked three a day in advance - one big enough for the adults, the other two tiny and just for Helena and Kylie to dig into. Molly put all of her girly touches into them, knowing that cakes decorated with footballs and dinosaurs were in her own future, so Helena got one with little flowers, bows and hearts that made her mother nearly gag at the sight.

The house was alight with laughter and happy chattering an hour into the festivities, once dinner was finished and Selina got Helena down to a diaper in her high chair. She glanced behind her and smiled as Molly brought her small cake over, waddling the whole way, and everyone else remained seated at the table, talking amongst themselves.

"You know," Alfred told Bruce as the ladies set the cake down in front of the baby, "I remember your first birthday. Your mother got you this enormous cake, about three times the size of that one. You didn't eat a bite of it, not a single bite, but your parents and I all ended up wearing it."

Bruce chuckled as Selina stuck a big pink candle in the shape of a "1" in the middle of Helena's cake, and as Molly lit it, Selina grabbed Bruce's hand and pulled him up to stand on either side of the high chair with her. Then Molly backed off, whipped out her camera, and sing-songed, "All right, everyone! Let's sing!"

The two parents grinned at each other as the table full of guests started singing "Happy Birthday" - Blake, Raven, Christian, Alfred, Leslie, Anita & Kylie, and of course, Molly - and Helena stared in curiosity at the little flame on top of her cake, oblivious to everything besides the chunk of pink sugar on her tray.

Selina watched as Bruce brushed some of his daughter's hair back, smiling as he sang to her, and then she turned her eyes to her giggling daughter. She had grown so much, lost a lot of her chubbiness, and was continuing to stun them with how well she managed to blend their features. Her cheeks, not nearly as fat as they'd once been, now looked as if they'd have Bruce's structure, and her lips were shaped distinctly like Selina's. She was nothing short of stunning, and Selina wondered what the little one on the way would look like - if it would be a boy or girl, what it would look like. How Helena would react to a sibling.

Bruce's fingers tapping on Selina's hand got her attention, and she realized the singing had just ended. Bruce counted to three, then together they blew out the candle.

Everyone clapped, and Selina removed the candle. "Alright, baby," she smiled, "have at it. It's all yours."

Bruce took his seat back at the table first, the closest one to the high chair, and then pulled on Selina's hand to bring her down to his lap. She gave him a smile and he gave her a peck on her lips, and then they watched as Helena grinned at the cake and touched it with one little finger, happily unsure of exactly what to do with it.

Meanwhile, Molly was shooed away from her cake-cutting duties by Christian, who told her to sit down and get off of her swollen feet, so she trudged off to sit next to Bruce and Selina.

"Come on, Helena," Molly laughed as the baby continued to merely eye the cake, "I made that specifically for you to smash."

"Yeah," Blake piped up, "pretend you're the Hulk and smash it."

Helena looked up at the folks who were talking to her, then her parents, and then, with a huge grin, she put her hand on the cake and slowly pushed on it. When she pulled it back, she stared at her pink-covered palm, then took a cautious taste.

One taste was all she needed - she then grinned and grabbed a huge handful of the cake and shoved it into her mouth. Pictures were taken, laughs were had all around, and then it was Kylie's turn to dig into her own little cake.

Kylie proved to be even more enthusiastic than Helena, and the two babies laughed at each other from their high chairs as they went all out on the cakes.

Christian started distributing plates with slices of the larger cake throughout the table, and as Helena started rubbing chunks of her cake into her hair and smudging it on her cheeks, Bruce eyed Selina and said, "I think you get to clean her up this time."

Selina scoffed. "I don't think so. Actually, I know exactly who should get to clean her up - how about the godfather?"

Blake raised his eyebrows pointedly at Selina from across the table. "Yeah, I don't think that's how it works. Not part of the job description. How about Alfred?"

Alfred laughed. "Nice try, but I've more than paid my dues cleaning up after that little one's father. My job is to spoil her and send her home for those two to deal with."

"Nice," Bruce replied with a grin, bringing a forkful of cake to Selina's lips. She gave him a look as she took the bite, and behind her, Molly gave their chair a kick.

Selina glanced behind her and Molly half-whispered, "I saw that look! Get off his lap before you guys get creepy!"

"I do have _some_ self control," Selina whispered back, a smirk on her lips.

Molly rolled her eyes and leaned in closer so that nobody could pick up on her whispers. "Yeah, until those hormones start kicking in."

"I think they just did," Selina replied, and Molly laughed as they separated.

Selina turned back to Bruce, who gave her a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"

Selina only smiled cryptically in reply, and then Molly gave them another light kick, meant only for Selina this time.

"Dammit, Molly -" Selina started, but then stopped short when Helena expertly lobbed a chunk of cake at Bruce's face.

Selina leapt off his lap then, as everyone started laughing. Kylie saw and decided to copy, throwing some of her cake at Anita, and Selina pointed and laughed at both her and Bruce.

Bruce smiled good naturedly as he wiped off the cake on the side of his face with his hand, then gave Selina look that made Molly's eyes widen as she informed Selina, "I don't think he appreciated you laughing at him like that."

Bruce calmly picked up the remainder of the slice of cake on his plate with his hand, then got to his feet, still staring at Selina. She backed up and narrowed her eyes at him. "You wouldn't."

"Sure about that?"

"Do it!" Blake said, disguising his comment as a cough. Selina then glared at him harshly enough to make him quickly look away, which made Raven laugh.

Selina continued taking steps back as Bruce continued to walk forward. "_Bruce_," she said warningly.

"Selina," he replied, one brow raised.

She eyed the cake in his hand and said, "You know that won't end well for you."

He glanced down at his hand and shrugged. "I'm okay with taking that chance."

"You'll have to catch me first," she replied, then darted off down the hallway.

Bruce laughed and glanced back at Molly, who quickly assured him, "I'm watching Helena. Go shove cake in her face."

Then Bruce grinned and headed after Selina, leaving the party to go on without them for a moment. Christian leaned back in his seat and said, "Who wants to bet that we won't see them for about another half hour?"

"I would hope that I instilled enough sense of propriety in him for that not to happen at a child's birthday party," Alfred remarked.

Molly and Blake's eyes met then, both of them visibly doubting the former butler's words, and Molly started laughing. "I think poor Blake here knows better than almost anyone how untrue that is."

Meanwhile, down the hall, Bruce had just managed to catch Selina by her hand and push her against the wall next to their bedroom door. She laughed and grabbed his wrists to keep them away from her face and kissed him furiously, hoping to distract him enough to make him forget about his mission. It seemed to work as he kissed her back, using his non-cake holding hand to pull her closer to him.

A moment or two later, he pulled away to catch his breath, and looked down at her with amused and joyful eyes. She stared up at him and felt her mind screaming at her, felt the news about to burst out of her, but the words couldn't even form enough to get stuck in her throat. Maybe it wasn't the right time anyway, but she still couldn't understand why she couldn't just say it - it was two little words, two words that would make him even happier than he already was, so why couldn't she just -

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a handful of pink goo being pressed into her face. It got in her hair, in her eye, and all over her cheek, then dripped down to her shirt for good measure.

Bruce smirked at her as she wiped off her eye with her finger. Then she glared up at him and growled, "You're dead."

* * *

They returned to the party a moment or two later, easily proving Christian's prediction wrong. It was time to open presents then, but Helena didn't show a lot of interest in opening her gifts after her cake excursion - which Selina ended up cleaning up, to her chagrin - and by the time Bruce had opened them all and assembled most of them, she'd chased Kylie around the living room to the point of falling asleep in the middle of the floor.

At that point, Alfred and Leslie bade farewell and returned to their home, as did Molly and Christian, and the remaining guests were shown to rooms they could stay the night in. Blake tried to bargain with Anita to trade his room, which was directly over Bruce and Selina's, with hers, which was somehow on the far opposite end of the house, but she declined with a good laugh. He apologized to Raven in advance for any ensuing loud noises or shaking walls, and she continued to suspect that he was probably exaggerating.

Selina moved Helena from her makeshift bed on the living room floor to her crib in their room, and went about cleaning up the room to keep her mind off of continuing to fret about how to tell Bruce the news.

The signs were there without her having to even say it, however - she'd eaten two pieces of cake after having seconds from dinner, and Molly gave her so many secretive looks that anyone with half a brain could have been able to tell that something was up. That was on top of her recent fatigue, sleep issues, and sensitive breasts, so a part of her wondered if she should put the whole "master detective" thing to the test and see how long it would take for him to figure it out.

She was hanging up clothes in their closet when she heard him come in the bedroom and quietly close the door behind him. She wanted to berate herself for her sudden spike of anxiety at the sound, but instead she rolled her eyes and continued to hang up their clothes.

He poked his head inside the closet a moment later. "Really?"

She shrugged. "I got sick of staring at our clothes in the laundry basket."

"Fair enough. Everyone's settled in."

She looked up and nodded. "Good."

"... You're acting a little strangely tonight."

"What? I just said 'good'."

"Yeah, but... never mind," he shrugged. "I'm gonna get ready for bed."

She nodded, and he walked off towards the bathroom. Then she rolled her eyes and tossed the shirt in her hands to the floor and followed him.

The "two simple words" continued to evade her as they prepared for bed in mostly silence, only a few words spoken here or there, all of them about the day's events and rather generic. He brushed his teeth as she combed out her hair - finding a few hidden cake crumbs in there, thanks to his antics - and by the time they walked back out into their room, she decided that the only way she'd say it at all was to just blurt it out.

He was dressed in simple black pajama pants, she in a t-shirt of his that she'd smuggled away from him to sleep in long ago, and she stood staring at him near the foot of their bed as he turned off the lights.

By the time he turned back to her, only a dim light on their nightstand remained on. There was a little bit of moonlight filtering in through the windows, falling on Bruce's face as he turned to her.

"Is everything okay?"

She looked up at him, finding genuine concern on his face, and found that she still couldn't get the words out.

"Selina?"

She sighed. She'd just have to tell him later.

"Everything's fine," she replied, stepping forward. Her hands ran over his waist as one of his brushed over her neck, then tucked her hair behind her ear. Then he tilted her head to the side a little, and she closed her eyes, her heart pounding already with need. He kissed her pulse point, one of her weakest places, not knowing that it was utterly unnecessary. His hand brushing her neck had been enough to set her nerves on edge, and she couldn't decide if this was a perk or curse of pregnancy.

His tongue ran over her quickly-fluttering little vein, and she exhaled sharply as she grabbed a handful of his hair and pushed him back towards their bed. She had him down on his back in a flash, letting him pull her down to kiss her as she straddled his hips, not giving him a chance to overpower her as she took control.

His hands were under her shirt, moving up her hips to her sides, when he forced their lips apart and looked up at her. "Selina."

"Mmm," she murmured back, moving her lips to his neck.

"Is -" he drew in a sharp breath as she sucked at his own pulse point - "is this weird to you?"

She snapped her head up. "Is what weird?"

Bruce jerked his head towards the crib next to their bed. "I mean, she's... one now."

"... And?"

Bruce smiled and replied, "I don't know... it would be a little weird if she woke up and saw us."

Selina paused and pressed her lips together, glancing towards the crib, then deciding on a solution rather quickly. "Then put her in the nursery and turn on the monitor in there. And do it fast."

"Yes, ma'am," Bruce replied playfully, kissing the corner of her mouth as she reluctantly let him up. She sighed and waited impatiently as he rolled the crib out of their room and into Helena's still-rarely used one, dropping down to her stomach and letting her head hit the pillow slightly harshly.

She didn't hear him walk back in, only aware of his return when his hand found the back of her knee and slowly moved up her thigh. She turned her head as she felt his weight dip into the bed, the overwhelming need hitting her hard once more as soon as his eyes met hers.

He laid back and let her climb atop him again, let her take the lead without any interruption on his part for once. He had no idea what he'd gotten himself into, however, until some time later, when she leaned down and whispered in his ear as she rode him feverishly, "It's gonna be one of _those_ nights."

* * *

He didn't have to ask what she meant by "one of those nights", and he knew better than to argue. There was no reasoning with her when she got like this, and there was also no sleep to be had. That was okay, though - he had a lot of years of deprivation to make up for, and sleep was overrated anyway.

It wasn't until the third round that she let him up off of his back, and he made it count, placing her on her knees against the headboard and taking her from behind, apparently loudly.

A stomp from upstairs got their attention. "What was that?" Selina asked breathlessly, hanging on to the headboard with shaky arms.

Bruce grunted vaguely in response, not particularly caring, and then a voice wafted down from the same place the stomp had.

"_Do you guys ever sleep?!_"

Selina laughed, and Bruce did as well, not slowing down but noticing for the first time just how loudly the bed really was banging against the wall.

"_It's two in the morning!_"

Selina laughed again, and Bruce chuckled against her neck in between kisses. Then he took her hands and placed her palms flat on the wall in front of them, interlocked their fingers, and started pounding harder. She couldn't have stayed silent if she'd wanted to.

"_I'm never staying here again!_"

* * *

When three o'clock rolled around, Selina was still not done yet, and barely tired enough to sleep as Bruce kissed down her chest. She laced her fingers through his hair and let out a hiss of pain when he palmed one of her breasts.

"Sorry," he quickly said, looking up at her.

"It's fine," she replied, wondering if this time, he'd put two and two together.

He didn't. He kissed her stomach, above her navel, and murmured, "Do you hurt anywhere else?"

"Depends on what you mean by hurt," she said, a ghost of a smirk on her lips.

"The good kind," he answered, taking her hips in her hands as he continued his trail of kisses.

"The best kind," she said, only half-aware of what she was even saying, distracted by his breath on her inner thigh, and kisses being placed everywhere besides her center.

He half-smiled at her answer, then looked up at her, finding her eyes closed as she tensed in anticipation.

"Hey."

She opened her eyes and met his gaze.

"Watch me."

* * *

Maintaining eye contact through such an intimate contact inspired one more round out of Bruce, though a slower, sweeter one, and Selina found herself under him as he gave her all that he had left in him.

He kissed her softly but gently, held up both of her weakened legs to his waist for her, and coaxed out the last of her moans with each of his measured, angled strokes. He let her tilt his head down and to the side so that her mouth grazed his ears, and heard her voice waft breathily into his ear, "I love you."

He sometimes found it hilarious that she tended to say those words only during moments of crisis or when they were naked. Most of the time, though, he simply couldn't believe he was lucky enough to hear those words from her.

He leaned his forehead down to hers as he felt his end nearing. "I love you."

* * *

Bruce stared up at the ceiling, exhausted beyond words, running the tips of his fingers up and down Selina's back as she lay sprawled out on his chest. She was breathing as hard as he was, open-mouthed and heavy, dazed and limp absolutely everywhere.

"I wasn't... expecting this tonight," Bruce said, his voice raspy and strained.

"I wasn't either," she replied. "Honest."

He rolled her to his side and settled in beside her, facing her and taking her in his arms. "We haven't had a night like this since before Helena. If I didn't know better I'd say you were pregnant again."

She stared at him, not having expected him to say that. She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat, and he furrowed his brows at her expression. "What?"

She kept staring at him, willing him to stop being so dense and get the hint.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. She could almost see his brain finally catching up and putting the pieces together. "Wait. You're not... are you?"

"Am I what?" she asked innocently.

"You're on the pill, so you can't be... can you?"

"I could be, if I decided to stop taking it a couple months ago."

They stared at one another for a long moment, Bruce in disbelief, until Selina started smiling. "Are you serious?"

She nodded. "Yep."

"You're really pregnant?"

He was smiling now, though he still looked beyond stunned, and it made her smile even wider. "Yep."

He laughed. It was breathless, shocked, and a little exhilarated-sounding, but then it grew into a full laugh that drew her in. Next thing they knew, they were laughing together, absorbing the news together, and Bruce seemed even more shocked than she thought he'd be.

"My God," he said when the laughter began to wane, taking her face in his suddenly-shaky hands. "Selina... how long have you known?"

"Just today," she replied. "I found out at work."

"Why didn't you tell me you went off the pill?"

"Because I've been changing my mind every day," Selina said. "Some days I took it, others I didn't... mostly I didn't."

"But I thought you didn't want more kids," he said, still smiling.

"I thought about what you said before, after Helena was born," she explained. "Then the old ladies told me horror stories about waiting to have kids... I just decided that, if I'm going to have another kid, I'd rather get it over with it now."

Bruce laughed and kissed her. "I... this is the last thing I expected you to tell me."

She shrugged, her thumb running along his jaw. "I'm full of surprises."

"Are you happy about this?" he asked. "I never wanted to pressure you or..."

"You never pressured me," she assured him. "And, oddly enough... I am happy." His smile widened, and she chided, "I'm surprised it took you all day to figure it out, Mister Master Detective."

"I honestly thought you were PMSing," he replied with a laugh.

She rolled her eyes, but her eyes softened when his hand came to rest on her belly. "I can't believe we're really doing this again," he smiled.

"This is it, though," she said warningly. "No more after this."

"Agreed," he replied. "I'm happy with two."

"Good," she grinned. "Because I'm not changing my mind again. I was crazy to change it the first time."

He kissed her gently, then murmured, "Probably."

She smiled and shook her head. "No... I'm definitely crazy."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: thanks as always to everyone for your feedback and continuing interest in this story! To one reviewer signed Bresmama - hahhaha! That's awesome! Congratulations on the newest addition, and I'll try not to jinx you again :) Anyway, my usual thanks to midnightwings96 as well! Love you all! :D**

Bruce always woke up before both Selina and Helena did, without fail, every day. His days of sleeping in late and living the lazy island life died with the inception of his hospital, and that was okay - he'd trade sleep for a renewed sense of purpose any day, and that was exactly what he had.

He lingered in bed this morning, a day that marked one week since Selina had told him that she was pregnant again, and he stared peacefully at the sight of his lover and child sleeping curled up with one another. It had stormed during the night and Helena had awoken with a fright, but calmed down and drifted back to sleep once Selina brought her into their bed.

He'd always told her that she'd be an amazing mother, and he was pleased at his words being proven right every day. The woman who'd once claimed to have no maternal instinct ended up having all the instinct that one would ever need to raise and love a child, just as he'd known she would. And despite how well he knew her, and how few walls remained between the two of them, she was still able to completely shock him with something as unexpected as a second child.

It had taken hard work to get here - unbelievably hard work - but now he could starkly see, even more than he had before, how truly far they had come. How far _she_ had come. How much she loved him, and their daughter, to put herself through nine more months of a physical condition that she made her loathing of quite clear.

He'd been waiting a long time, about a year and half, for a sign that would tell him that she was ready for the next step. He'd been ready himself for even longer than he'd been waiting, but he continued waiting patiently, knowing that she would get there eventually.

This second child was the sign he'd been waiting for. Now he lacked reason, and will, to wait any longer.

He knew the vows and papers and rings didn't mean quite as much to Selina as it did to him, but he also knew that her aversion to marriage wasn't exactly due to a dislike of the institution itself. It was simply another symptom of her past and her fears, the bits and pieces of them that she still clung to for her own sake. To her, marriage had always been an absurd idea, something that was not for her, and something that was more akin to a prison than anything else.

But that had been the old Selina Kyle's truth, the one that did what she had to do to survive and kept her emotions turned off because if she didn't, she'd end up dead. Now she was in love, a mother, and a champion for women who were suffering the kind of abuse that had set her own life down its early path. This woman, the one laying in his bed and cradling one child in her arms and carrying another in her womb, was surely the most ready she would ever be to take the next step. Even if she didn't quite know it yet.

But that didn't mean that he had any real idea of what the hell he was supposed to do now. He'd gone over what he'd do when this day eventually came for months and months, but never came any closer to a decision on where or how to propose to Selina. She was not the average girl who would automatically swoon at the sight of a diamond and fall into his arms chanting _yes, yes, yes, of course I'll marry you!_ Everything he could think of felt cheesy or cliched, and his proposal to her could be neither of those things.

But first things were first. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand by his head and began typing a group text to the two people he suspected could help him the most with picking out a ring. He could worry about the where and how of actually proposing later.

His text was simple and to the point - _Ring shopping today. Need help._

Molly replied first, within about two seconds of him sending the text, with a solid line of nothing but exclamation points. He could practically see her jumping up and down in giddiness, tapping her phone's keypad rapidly and squeaking happily.

Alfred answered next, a moment or two later, with _Indeed. About bloody time, I might add_.

He chuckled and set his phone down, thinking this may well end up being one of the most nerve-wracking and terrifying things he'd ever done.

* * *

Molly was now three days overdue to give birth, and though she was extremely unhappy about that, she appeared to be the very epitome of happiness as she chattered rapidly while accompanying Bruce and Alfred into the largest jewelry store in Nassau.

"... So anyway, what were you thinking? Any specific styles or cuts?"

Bruce shook his head and opened the door for her and Alfred. "Not a clue. That's what you two are here for."

"I've never been so happy to see you completely terrified, sir," Alfred smiled as he passed Bruce, giving his shoulder a pat.

"Yeah, me either, I guess," Bruce muttered, following them into the store and stopping at the sight of an overwhelming amount of clear cases filled with sparkling diamonds. He swallowed, unaware of the sudden deer-in-headlights look on his face until Molly leaned over to him and whispered, "Breathe."

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and cleared his throat, smiling tightly at the blonde and stepping forward towards the first display of diamond rings. Vaguely he heard one of the saleswomen ask if she could assist them with anything, and then he heard Alfred placate the eager woman as he stared blankly at the array of jewelry.

He'd always prided himself on knowing Selina and her taste in things extremely well, but he suddenly felt like he was eighteen years old and helpless, young, dumb, and utterly clueless.

"So," Molly said, "what kind of jewelry does she like? Like, what does she really love?"

Bruce shook his head a little to snap himself out of his mild panic. "Pearls," he replied automatically.

"Oh yeah, I've seen her wearing those really gorgeous ones she's got," Molly nodded. "What else?"

"Diamonds," he replied lamely.

"Okay, and what about gold? Does she like yellow gold or white gold?"

"White," he answered, not having ever seen her express a liking for gold of the yellow kind.

"Alright... so white gold," she said, walking along the length of the display, eyeing the contents. "And what I get from the pearls and diamonds thing is that she likes nice, classic stuff."

Bruce nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"But she's also really strong and tough and badass, so we need to find something that says that, too."

Bruce's eyes widened a little as Molly moved on to another display, and Alfred clapped him on the back. "Look a bit pale there."

"I'm fine," Bruce shrugged. "I just don't want to get something she'll hate."

"We won't let you do that," Alfred grinned, guiding him to the next set of rings. "What about something like this?"

Alfred pointed out a ring with three diamonds in the center, the middle one the largest, and Bruce shook his head. "... I don't know."

Molly glanced at the ring in question and said, "That's pretty but it's not quite... oomph enough."

Alfred looked at the ring again and shrugged. "I suppose not."

Nearly an hour followed of hand-wringing and brain-wracking, nothing being quite amazing enough to really seem to suit a woman like Selina. Most rings were either too small or too big - gaudy didn't suit her either - and by the end of the hour, Bruce had decided on looking elsewhere another day just as one ring they'd all apparently overlooked caught his eye.

It was in the first case they'd looked through, about two and a half carats and square-cut, resting on a simple band of white gold. Molly followed Bruce's gaze to the ring and immediately said, "Ooh! I like that one!"

All three pairs of eyes bent and peered at the thing. "Fits the classic and strong requirement," Alfred remarked.

"Yeah... and it's big without being, like, disgusting," Molly said. "I could definitely see her wearing this."

"I think I can too," Bruce said, contemplating the ring. Then the same saleswoman from before came over and offered her help for the thousandth time, and this time Bruce asked to see the ring.

A moment later he was holding the ring between his thumb and forefinger, examining it more closely. Molly had pulled out a candy bar from her purse and was munching on it as she and Alfred joined in analyzing the ring.

"I like that one. A lot," Molly said.

"I do as well," Alfred said. "It's simple but quite beautiful."

Bruce absorbed their opinions, debating on his own. "Think she'll like it?"

"Oh, definitely," Molly replied confidently, through a mouthful of chocolate.

"It seems to be the best option here," Alfred said, "so unless you want to wait and visit a few more places before making your decision..."

Bruce shook his head. "I don't want to wait. And I'd have to fly to the states to look somewhere else. This is the only decent sized jewelry store here."

"So is that it, then?" Alfred inquired.

Bruce stared at the ring, ignoring Molly's slightly loud chewing a few inches from his head. "Yeah. I think so."

"Think?" Molly asked.

Bruce took a breath and made his decision. "No. This is it."

* * *

Molly squeaked in delight when Bruce had made his choice, then fell strangely silent as he spoke to the saleswoman and got the ordering process going. Alfred noticed the slightly uncomfortable look on her face as she went to sit down on a little chair near the front door.

"You all right?" he asked, a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I've just been having these stupid fake contractions for the last few days. They hurt but they aren't real labor."

"Are they close together?"

"I don't think so," she said. "I just started feeling them after I ate that candy bar."

"All right," Alfred said, taking out his cell phone, "why don't you let me know when the next one starts, and I can time them for you."

"Okay," she replied, a small smile on her lips. "Thanks."

He nodded, then set a timer on his phone when she told him one was starting a moment later. It took Bruce about twenty minutes to get his order in and paid for, and in that time, Molly's contractions proved to be regular, and three minutes apart.

When Bruce joined them near the entrance, looking relieved and a little goofily happy, his expression instantly became more serious when he saw the somewhat strained look on Molly's face. "What's wrong?"

"It appears that she may be going into labor," Alfred explained.

Molly grimaced and fanned her face with her hand, muttering, "This is what I get for complaining and saying I wanted him out! Oh God, I'm nervous..."

Bruce glanced at Alfred and said gently, "How about I give you a ride to the hospital?"

She nodded, then grimaced again as another contraction started. "_Crap_, this hurts! I'm sorry, Bruce, really, I -"

"Don't be ridiculous," Bruce smiled, offering a hand to help her up. "Come on. I'll give Chris a call for you on the way."

"Thanks," she sighed, putting one swollen foot in front of the other. "By the way, I can totally see why she loves you so much. You're pretty amazing. And she's gonna love the ring."

He smiled in amusement and replied, "Thanks. And I hope so."

"And if she doesn't say yes," Molly added, "I'll slap the hell out of her."

* * *

Selina was crouched over the toilet in the shelter's bathroom when she felt her phone vibrating in her pant pocket. It had been a mistake to even try to eat lunch, but she'd been starving and decided to take the risk. But now she was paying the price, and had been slumped in the same position over the toilet for fifteen minutes now, dry heaving once she'd run out of food to eject.

Wiping the sweat off her brow and rocking back on her knees, breathing heavy and loudly, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and squinted as she held it up in front of her face. She saw five texts from Molly, who was exclaiming about going to the hospital in labor and demanding that she get there as soon as she could.

Selina sighed and dropped the phone back into her pocket, trying to get herself together. She took a few calming breaths, then decided to try to get up.

As soon as she got back to her feet, her gag reflex kicked in again, and she dropped back down to her knees to heave into the toilet some more.

Her throat and stomach were hot with pain, and she groaned in frustration as the gagging finally abated after awhile. She'd done her fair share of throwing up during he first pregnancy, but this was already worse than anything she remembered - and she was only seven weeks along.

Her phone vibrated again, and she fought the urge to chuck it against the wall. Instead, she grabbed it and typed her panicking friend a quick response about being busy with her head in a toilet and to calm the hell down.

* * *

When Selina did eventually emerge from the bathroom, fetch Helena from Anita, and then drive over to the hospital, she was shaking and barely able to stand as she made her way up to the labor and delivery floor. Helena wasn't ignorant to her mother's plight, eyeing her strangely and patting her cheek as Selina carried her out of the elevator and towards the nurses' station.

The head nurse there, an older woman in her fifties, recognized Selina as the owner's girlfriend and smiled warmly to her as she approached. "He's in room 4."

Selina nodded, then gave the nurse a puzzled look. "He?"

"Yeah, Mr. Wayne brought in a woman in labor about an hour ago," she replied, waving to Helena with a smile.

"Oh. Okay," Selina replied, heading down the corridor, wondering why Bruce had been the one to bring Molly in.

The door to room 4 was open when Selina got to it, and she stepped inside slowly, finding Molly in the bed at the center and Bruce near the window. Alfred was pacing near the wall, and Molly gasped and squealed before Selina could ask what had assembled the three of them here.

"Selina, thank God! Oh my gosh, it's actually happening, I'm not even joking!"

Selina smiled weakly, Bruce turning and catching her eye. "Yeah, I gathered that from your two hundred texts."

Molly smiled, as Helena got a glimpse of her Dad and then held out her arms wide for him to take her from Selina. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was panicking a little bit."

Selina shrugged as Bruce took Helena, big smiles plastered on both of their faces. "It's okay." Then she turned to Bruce and Alfred and asked, "What brings the two of you here?"

"We were getting lunch and ran into Molly at the cafe," Alfred answered quickly. "She was having some contractions, and we offered to give her a ride here."

Selina nodded then, not thinking twice about the explanation. She turned to Molly then and asked, "Have they checked you yet?"

"A nurse did," she replied. "She said I was around five centimeters."

Selina's eyes widened. "Five?! That's _really_ good, Molly - it took me forever to get to five. Are you in pain?"

Molly shrugged. "Yeah, I mean it hurts, but it's not, like, awful."

Selina sighed and sunk into a chair at Molly's bedside. "Yeah, sounds about right, coming from the girl who didn't puke once in the last nine months."

Molly smiled sheepishly and asked, "I got your text about the toilet. That bad?"

Selina shook her head. "It's awful. Way worse than the first time. My stomach's still killing me."

Just then, Christian came bounding in the room, dressed in sweatpants and a Cambridge University hoodie, looking panicked and disheveled. "I'm here!"

Molly rolled her eyes. "Where have you _been_? Selina got here before you, and she's got a baby already and one making her puke every five seconds?"

"I was on a call at home, I'm sorry! I headed here as soon as I got your voicemail!" Christian argued, thanking Selina as she slipped out of the chair and motioned for him to sit next to his wife.

Selina then headed for Bruce, who was smiling and bouncing a content Helena in his arms near the window. "Someone's happy to see Daddy."

He turned his eyes to her then, and smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her. "And I'm happy to see Mommy."

She rolled her eyes a little as she pulled away after his peck on her lips. "Mommy wants to crawl in bed and not get out for a week."

He looked at her sympathetically. "Bad day, I take it."

She nodded. "Horrible. This is a lot worse than last time."

"Sorry," Bruce said softly, just as Dr. Gwen Jones entered the room.

The same doctor who delivered Helena had taken care of Molly throughout her whole pregnancy, after being hired away from Nassau General by Bruce last year. She smiled at her boss and Selina, who had an appointment with her for her own pregnancy tomorrow, then turned to Molly and asked a few questions before beginning her exam.

Selina sighed and perched on the windowsill, laying her head on Bruce's shoulder in front of her. Her stomach was lurching with hunger and her limbs were shaking from weakness, and her gag reflex was threatening to act up again, but she fought hard to keep it together on the outside.

From Bruce's arms, Helena pulled on one of Selina's front pieces of hair and looked at her with concern. Selina raised her head and touched Helena's cheek with a smile. "I'm all right, baby."

Helena didn't look convinced, but she turned her attention to Bruce's collar then, grabbing it and shoving it in her mouth as Selina leaned back against the window, closing her eyes for a brief, quiet moment.

A minute or two later, Dr. Jones told Molly that she expected her labor to progress nice and quickly, then left to fetch an anesthesiologist to give her an epidural. Molly was barely even in pain yet, and her water was still intact, thus leading Selina to believe that her labor would be just a easy and painless as her entire pregnancy had been.

But Selina's mild bitterness dissipated the moment Molly turned in her bed and asked Selina to stay with her until her boy was born. Selina nodded and agreed, Alfred offered to take Helena back to his house, and Bruce decided to stay at the hospital as long as Selina would be there.

* * *

Selina eyed the banana in her hand warily, sitting on Molly's left while Christian sat at her right, listening to the woman chatter happily as she tried to force herself to eat.

"You really look like hell," Molly remarked, looking at Selina sadly.

Selina gave her a miserable look and started peeling the banana. "I feel worse than I look."

"Ugh," Molly groaned sympathetically, chewing on some ice. Her epidural had worked brilliantly, and at last check she was at a solid eight centimeters. Contractions came and went on the monitor and she barely noticed a thing - the doctor had mentioned having to actually turn off the medicine soon to allow her enough feeling in her body to be able to push the baby out.

Selina took a hesitant bite of the fruit, caught between hunger and lingering nausea. It was almost dinnertime now and she still felt as horrible as she did when she'd first woken up that morning. "I've only known that I'm pregnant for a week and I'm already done."

"Well," Molly said hopefully, "maybe this stage will pass soon and then you can just be super horny and hungry all the time."

"That was me for the first three days," Selina replied. "Then it turned into _this_."

Christian shook his head and muttered, "I cannot imagine going through what you women have to. Seriously, I would rather be drafted into a war than suffer the way you two have."

"She hasn't suffered," Selina pointed out, gesturing to Molly. "And I knew she wouldn't. I told her she was going to be one of those bitches that never puke and feel great the whole time. How has she suffered?"

Christian thought for a long moment, then said, "Well, she gets hot flashes quite a bit."

Molly laughed as Selina threw her hands in the air. "Oh, okay, so she gets hot a couple times a day? Wow, that's some intense suffering."

Christian laughed and said, "All right, all right, point made."

"I mean, look at this - you're about to pop Klondike out any minute now, literally, and you're just sitting there looking pretty in no pain at all."

Molly grinned and replied, "I know, it's kind of sickening, isn't it?"

"Can I say something?" Christian interjected. "I am quite tired of referring to our son as 'Klondike', and seeing as we are going to be meeting him very very soon, can we please agree on a name?"

Molly groaned and dropped her head back against her pillow. "I've been trying, but you won't be reasonable!"

"I've been being perfectly reasonable," he protested, "and it's not my fault you've got tunnel vision when it comes to names."

"I like Aidan," Molly shrugged. "I like that one the most and I feel like Klondike is an Aidan."

"And I feel that he is a Zayne."

"Well, you feel wrong!"

"Selina, what do you think... oh my, look at that," Christian smiled, gesturing towards Selina. "It appears we've bored her to the point of falling asleep in a chair with a banana in her hand."

Selina had indeed dozed off, her head slumped over her chest, but it had nothing to do with boredom and everything to do with exhaustion and feeling like she'd been run over by a truck.

"Aw," Molly said in a hushed tone. "Poor girl. I just wanna squeeze her right now."

"Are you sure that's not just the huge amount of drugs in your system?"

Molly scoffed and then nearly spit out some of the ice chips in her mouth as her eyes widened on Christian. "Oh! Come here! I have something to tell you!"

She recounted the story of helping Bruce pick out an engagement ring earlier that day and subsequently going into labor, all while Selina dreamed of bananas, babies, and, not so oddly, bats. About ten minutes later, Molly's nurse came in to turn off her epidural, and then it was nearly time.

* * *

"I can't do it!" Molly gasped, clinging desperately to Christian and Selina's hands, in the middle of of pushing and in shock at the sudden sensations she could feel now that the medicine wasn't at full blast. "I can't... oh God, I can't do it..."

"Yes you can," Selina said, leaning down and forcing Molly to look her in the eye. "Look at me. You _can_ do it. If I can do it, you sure as hell can do it."

Molly shook her head furiously and and said, "Are you kidding me? You're all tough and badass and teach women how to kick ass, and I bake! All I do is bake and take pictures and... clean and... oh God,here comes another one..."

Molly's face screwed up in concentration then as Dr. Jones told her to take a breath and bear down. She did as she was told, cursing and struggling as she did, and letting out a huge gasping breath when the contraction was over.

She was muttering to herself about not being able to go on as Christian ran a damp cloth over her forehead, just before Dr. Jones looked up and said, "You can do it, Molly, and you are. A few more pushes and he'll be here."

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I am," the doctor replied, "so the next contraction you have, I want you to give it all you've got."

Molly nodded, nervous and scared and excited all at once, looking up at Christian and then Selina. "Hey - you and Bruce, will you be his godparents?"

Selina smiled and replied, "Of course we will."

"Okay, good! Because you really are the best friend I've got and I'm so glad you guys moved here and -"

"Okay, okay," Selina laughed, "you're sweet and that's all very sweet but you need to shut up and push now."

"Okay," Molly said breathlessly before closing her eyes and pushing with all of her might.

It only took her a moment or two more before the room was filled with the first cries of a precious little boy, who went straight into Molly's waiting arms as soon as he was born. He was pale blonde like his mother and green-eyed like his father, fat and every bit the little Klondike chunk that Molly had been anticipating.

Selina couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming sight of the couple, greeting their first child as they were overcome with wonder. It was a rush and an experience like no other, and Selina almost felt like an intruder watching the moment unfold.

She stayed, though, until after the baby was cleaned and wrapped up, weighed and handed back to Molly, who then cradled the boy and wondered aloud, "What's your name, little one?"

"I don't know if he's quite a Zayne, now that I see him," Christian said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but he may just be an Aidan."

Molly smiled, looking into her little boy's eyes, and said, "What about... Aidan Zayne?"

"Aidan Zayne," Christian replied. "I like that."

Molly looked up at Selina then, looking for her opinion. "I like it too."

Molly grinned and then said, "Then it's settled. My little Klondike was my Aidan all along. Told you, Chris."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in some more," Christian joked, running his hand along his son's blue-capped head.

Selina smiled and then gave Molly's shoulder a pat. "I think I'm gonna give you guys some privacy now."

Molly immediately began to protest, "Oh, you don't have to -"

"I know, but these first few moments with your baby is something special for you guys that you'll remember forever. So I'm going to go try to eat something and let you guys have your moment," Selina said with a smile.

"Okay. Thank you so much for staying with me today, especially with how crappy you feel. It means a lot."

"No problem," Selina replied, giving her friend another pat before heading out of the room. Now that the slight adrenaline of helping a friend through labor and delivery was over, her physical ailments were back at full force, and she headed to Bruce's office with the hopes of laying down and managing to eat something without barfing.

* * *

"What I don't understand," Bruce said with a small smile, "is how you can throw up all day and then, once you finally feel good enough to eat, scarf down a greasy cheeseburger of all things."

Selina looked up at him from her seat in front of his desk, which she'd turned into a makeshift table, and then set the sandwich down. Then she proceeded to take off the bun and put a couple of onion rings on top of the meat, then replaced the bun and brought it to her lips again. "Don't judge me."

Bruce laughed. "I'm just happy to see you eating."

"That makes two of us," she replied. "After I'm done can we go home?"

He nodded. "Of course we can."

"Good," she sighed, setting the sandwich down as she neared the end of it. "I miss Helena and I want to take a bath."

"I miss her too," Bruce replied. "I've barely seen her today."

Selina eyed the remainder of her sandwich and decided that she was done. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and then we can go."

Bruce nodded, then leaned back in his chair as she disappeared from his office to use the closest bathroom on their floor. He thought about the ring he'd ordered today, and again wondered how in the world he'd end up presenting it to her without her rolling her eyes or laughing at him. He had no idea when he wanted to actually do the proposal - the thought of doing it anytime soon was terrifying - but he had to wait at least a month or two while her ring was on order.

His slightly anxious thoughts were interrupted when Selina came bursting back into his office, a startling look of panic on her face. "Bruce?"

"What?" he asked, feeling the blood drain in his face at the fear in her eyes.

"I'm bleeding."

He stared at her for one half a second before he rapidly got to his feet and rushed to her. "How much?"

"Not a lot," she said as he took her by the arm and started leading her quickly down the hall towards the elevators.

"I'll get you into a room," he said, his voice deceptively calm but his eyes and face a mess of panic. "Just stay calm."

She nodded, letting him push her into an elevator, trying to calm her racing heart but failing miserably. She knew what the bleeding could mean, what it may even most likely mean, and the thought was unbearable.

The next ten minutes were a blur of quick movements and Bruce's raised voice, barking orders to the nurses in the maternity wing, demanding they page each on-call doctor repeatedly until one showed up, and yelling at an orderly who got in his way as he tried to usher Selina into an empty room. She was too lost in her own sickening fear to think to tell him to calm down or stop yelling at innocent bystanders and nurses who were only doing their best.

He paced the room, paging the doctors on his phone himself, as she sat utterly silently in the bed, changing slowly into a hospital gown. Once it was on, the door opened and Dr. Jones walked in, and Bruce sighed in relief.

"I came as soon I got the page," she said softly, turning her eyes from her mildly terrifying boss to her patient. "What's going on?"

Selina recounted her short story in a small voice, trying to steel herself and find her inner strength, but this was frightening on a whole other level of anything she'd ever experienced. Dr. Jones was polite and clinical, but not cold, and gently guided her through a quick exam as Bruce watched from Selina's side, his jaw tense and eyes still wide.

"Okay," she said after the uncomfortable exam, "I'm going to go get my ultrasound equipment and get a better look at what's going on. I'll be back no later than five minutes from now."

Selina nodded and thanked the doctor. After she left, Selina felt Bruce reassuringly curl one of his hands around one of her own.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she admitted in a mutter.

He squeezed her hand slightly and replied, "Don't let yourself get like that. Stay positive."

"Bleeding's never a good thing," she shook her head. "Did I do something to cause this? I mean, I've been careful... maybe I shouldn't be picking up Helena anymore, maybe she's too heavy now..."

Bruce lifted her chin with his finger and looked into her eyes as he said, "Selina, listen to me. You didn't cause this. You didn't. And it could end up being nothing. Everything's probably fine."

Selina nodded, trying to believe him. He kissed her forehead, and then Dr. Homes reentered the room, accompanied by an ultrasound machine.

Being as early into her pregnancy as she was, Selina had to have the lovely internal ultrasound as opposed to the external, non-invasive one, but she couldn't have cared less about the mild discomfort. She welcomed the test, hoping against hope to see a strong, fluttering little heartbeat on the screen in the coming moments.

She and Bruce were both silent as the doctor set up the machine, and they remained silent as the scan began. Dr. Jones was searching for the baby when a knock at the door got Bruce's attention.

Stifling a growl, he glanced at Selina and got up reluctantly to find out who was at the door. His expression went from slightly irritated to incredibly irritated when he opened the door to find Inessa on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped, not bothering to hide the angry edge in his voice.

"I - "

"You're a psychiatrist - why are you even on this floor?"

The doctor's gray eyes widened a little bit, having never heard anything come out of Bruce's mouth besides the utmost politeness and professionalism before. Then her expression hardened and she replied, "I'm on this floor because you paged me, Mr. Wayne."

He furrowed his brows and blinked. "I did?"

"Yes, you did," she replied, offense dripping from her accented voice.

"I must have by mistake -"

"That's no problem, Mr. Wayne," she replied, taking on a false polite tone, "and so you know, I often have patients on this floor, even though I'm just a psychiatrist."

He didn't care about what she was saying, and he wasn't with it enough to care that he'd snapped her head off. All he cared about was getting back to Selina's side. "Look, I don't have time to talk."

"Of course," she replied, turning on her heel, causing her long red hair to swish behind her as she did. "So sorry to have answered your page."

Bruce closed the door and erased the last moment from his mind for the time being, quickly returned to Selina's side and grasping her hand.

Selina gave him a look that was at once terrified and reproachful for answering the door at all, but then the faint sound of a heartbeat filled the room.

"There we are," Dr. Jones said. "Hard little one to find."

Selina sighed in relief at the sound of the pounding little heart, but Bruce noticed the way that the doctor was staring at the screen with a masked look of concern. He stayed silent though, rubbing Selina's hand in his with his thumb, waiting for the doctor to finish and give her verdict.

"Well," she finally said after about five more minutes of measuring and taking photos on the machine, "the baby is measuring fine, right where it should be at this point in time. The only thing that concerns me is that the heartbeat is just on the borderline of being too slow."

Bruce and Selina stared blankly at the doctor, before Selina asked, "What's that mean?"

"It could mean nothing," the doctor said. "I've seen some pregnancies start this way and turn out perfectly fine. For others, this combined with bleeding didn't turn out as well. But since the heart rate is just on the borderline, and the bleeding was light and ended quickly, at this point, I'm going to call this a threatened miscarriage."

When Selina continued to stare, the doctor went on, "What you need to do is take it easy for awhile. Take a week off of work, stay at home in bed. That's the best thing you can so right now. Then, when that week is over, come in and we'll do another scan."

Bruce gave Selina's hand a squeeze, and Selina shook her head a little bit as she blinked. "So... what you're saying is, you don't really know what's going on."

"I'll know more in a week," Dr. Jones replied gently. "It's so early at this point. All of this could end up being nothing. There's no way to find out besides waiting and seeing."

Selina nodded then. "All right," she replied, deceptively calmly.

"Okay," the doctor said, giving Selina's shoulder a light squeeze. Then she looked up at Bruce and said, "Make sure she stays in bed. Don't let her cook or clean. And no sex until we figure out what's going on."

Bruce nodded. "Right. Okay."

"Okay," the doctor said, getting up. "I'll give you two a moment alone."

Once they were alone, the strong facade that Selina had kept up for the doctor crumbled, and she covered her face with her hands. "I can't believe this is happening."

"It's going to be all right," Bruce said softly, rubbing her upper arm. "It could have been a lot worse. We'll go home and I'll take care of everything. You won't have to lift a finger."

"But the shelter -"

"The shelter will be fine," Bruce replied. "Anita knows what she's doing."

Selina dropped her hands then, staring off angrily. He could see tears swimming in her eyes, but she wasn't letting them fall. "Don't say anything to Molly. She's so happy right now and she'd just freak out and worry."

"I won't say anything to anyone," Bruce assured her.

"Who was at the door?"

Bruce paused before replying, "Dr. Aleksandrov."

Selina rolled her moist eyes. "Of course."

"I accidentally paged her, I guess," he said, feeling just a wee bit of guilt at the way he'd snapped at her now that he was back in his right mind.

Selina sighed and sat up, sniffing back tears that she still refused to cry. "Can we go home now?"

"Yeah," Bruce nodded, leaning in a kiss to her forehead before fetching her clothes for her.

* * *

On the way out they dropped by Molly's room, wearing brave faces as they said goodbye to the happy new parents and as Bruce met little Aidan for the first time. They were good liars, raising no suspicion that they were currently in the midst of a significant scare, but leaving was a huge relief to both of them.

They'd reached the lobby when Selina went off to go to the bathroom one more time before they left - threatened miscarriage or no, she still had all the symptoms of pregnancy, including having to pee every five minutes - and as Bruce waited for her, it was his luck that Inessa came sauntering through the lobby at the same time, dressed in her regular clothes, done with her shift.

She glanced at him but kept walking, and Bruce sighed and went after her, regretting his earlier words to her and deciding to put professionalism first and apologize. "Doctor."

She sighed but stopped, turning around to face him.

"I'm sorry for the way I snapped at you earlier," he said quietly. "I didn't realize that I'd paged you and -"

"It's okay," she replied. "Really. I heard the nurses talking about your girlfriend having some kind of problem or scare. So I understand why you snapped."

"Still," Bruce shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Is she okay?"

Bruce paused before replying, "We aren't really sure yet."

"Well," Inessa said, "I hope you find out soon. She seems great, you know. Very lovely woman."

"She is."

Inessa smiled. "I have to go now. Good luck. With everything."

He nodded as she turned and walked towards the front doors. Since Selina had pointed it out a week ago, he'd finally started noticing the little signs that the Russian doctor was giving off, and although it didn't matter in the least to him how any other woman anywhere felt about him, it was a headache he didn't need. Hopefully Inessa was getting the picture now.

A moment later, Selina was back at his side. He gave her a small smile and took her hand in his. "Let's go home."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: my usual thanks to everyone for continuing to read and review! You're all amazing! Since you're all nervous from last chapter, I'll shut up and get to the point here :) this chapter's a bit shorter than usual, so my apologies. Next one should be nice and huge, hopefully. Oh and thanks to midnightwings96, as always! :D **

Helena sneezed, ejecting a goopy mess on to Selina's sleeve before beginning to wail in irritation. Selina rolled her eyes and used a tissue to wipe her sleeve, then wiped Helena's quickly reddening little nose, which only made her cry harder.

Selina sighed and dropped her head against the dark wood of the headboard of her bed, then looked over at Bruce, who was sitting next to her and looking at her sympathetically. It was her first day of her weeklong mandated bedrest, made all the more stressful by Helena waking up sick that morning. It was now mid-afternoon and the child was exhausted and in need of a nap, but she couldn't breathe through her stuffy nose and was fighting going to sleep as hard as she could. She was also clinging to Selina more severely than usual, wanting her and only her to hold her. It was only a cold that she had but Helena was acting as if it were the end of the world.

Selina had barely slept the night before, and Bruce hadn't fared much better. The scare at the hospital the day before was weighing heavy on their minds, the elephant in the room as they tried to talk about anything but it as they dealt with the prospect of a week of anxiety and unknowns.

Bruce could see Selina hiding irritation at being clung to by Helena all day, knowing it wasn't easy to deal with when you weren't allowed out of bed and were struggling to not go crazy with the fear of losing a pregnancy. But she'd been quiet all day, accommodating Helena, not complaining, barely saying a word, just quietly watching the hours pass as Helena coughed and sneezed miserably and refused to move away from her.

She'd done enough today, Bruce decided. He reached out and gently grabbed Helena out of Selina's arms, and was rewarded with thrashing and squealing from the highly offended child.

"Bruce, it's okay," Selina quickly said, but Bruce merely glanced at her and shook his head as he got out of bed with his daughter.

Then he was gone, and Selina was alone, staring at a TV screen of toddler cartoons that had been on for Helena. She flipped through the channel guide mindlessly, listening to Helena wail from the next room, one of her hands resting on her flat belly instinctively.

There had been no more bleeding, no pain, no discomfort, and even her nausea hadn't been as severe today as usual, but it was taking all of her strength keep her gut from twisting with anxiety all day. She was almost stunned at her own reaction to the threatened miscarriage - could one really grow so attached to a new little unborn child after just a week of knowing they existed?

But everytime she thought about the child, she thought about the way that she and Bruce had laughed and smiled and kissed when she'd told him that she was pregnant again. She imagined Helena playing with a little brother or sister, thought about what the newest addition would look like, who they would resemble. Helena was such a flawless blend of her parents, so gorgeous now that the thought of her as an adult was stunningly beautiful. Would the next child be a blend like that, or a carbon copy of either Bruce or Selina? Would he or she be smart like Bruce, cunning like Selina, maybe deeply passionate like the both of them?

How could she have so many questions, so many unresolved thoughts, only to potentially have this little life ripped away from her before she could even learn if it was a boy or girl? What would she do then, if in the next moment she felt a rush of blood and it was all over?

She kept flipping though the channels, not even noticing how Helena's crying had ceased, her jaw tense, her mind racing a mile a minute. She never imagined that something like this would affect her as much as it was.

She'd finally picked a channel to watch when Bruce came quietly back into the room, and as she looked up at him and their eyes met, she realized that it was all his fault. The pain, the anxiety, the horrible waiting to find out if things would be okay or not. It was all because of _him_.

He had made her love him, opened her up to a world full of happiness and given her the second chance she'd all but given up on. He'd given her the chance to be anything she wanted. He'd loved her the way she'd only read about in novels and never believed anyone really could. He'd given her something that she hadn't had in years and had resigned herself to live without long ago - family.

The problem was, a love that deep and happiness that all-encompassing also left you open and vulnerable to the worst kind of pain there was. Deeper than a gunshot, sharper than a knife, more devastating than anything an enemy could throw at you.

He'd turned her into this strange new version of herself, a woman who let one child sneeze and slobber all over her while fighting tears for the threatened one in her womb. If not for him, she would have gone on living without pain, without fear, without anything. Alone and bulletproof.

He gave her a small smile as he got back into bed beside her. She didn't return his smile, resenting and loving and hating him all at the same time. Things had been going so well for so long that she'd forgotten that there were consequences to letting your guard down and sharing your life, and heart, with someone.

"Got her to sleep," he said, clearly satisfied with himself.

She turned her eyes back to the television. "Yeah, how'd you do that?"

"Walked around with her in her room," he said. "Sang to her."

She turned her gaze back to him and said, "You _sang_ to her?"

He nodded. "Remember how you always used to say, when you were pregnant, that she'd calm down when she heard my voice? I guess it still works."

Just the image he provided her, of him cradling their sick daughter and singing softly to her and lulling her to sleep, was enough to remind Selina of just how much the vulnerability was worth it to love this man. You couldn't have highs without lows, and now, looking into his eyes, she had just the smallest spark of confidence that they really could get through this low together. Even if the worst was to happen.

He had no idea of the war going on inside of her head, evidenced by the fact that he turned his eyes to the TV and asked curiously, "What's this?"

The smallest of smiles tugged at the corner of her lips as Selina replied, "It's the Lord of the Rings."

"Oh. Haven't seen it."

She blinked at him and said, "What?"

He returned her confused look. "What?"

"You haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies?"

"... No."

"You were locked in your house for eight years - what did you _do_? Did you not even watch movies?"

"I -"

"Never mind," she shrugged, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I have to pee, then you're going to find out what you've been missing."

"Whoa, whoa," Bruce said suddenly, darting out of bed before her feet had the chance to touch the floor. "You're not walking anywhere."

She narrowed her eyes as he came to stand in front of her. "Oh, okay - so, what, am I supposed to pee in a bedpan like an invalid?"

Bruce grinned at her question, one of his grins that made her want to slap him, then bent down to her and slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her back."I only said you aren't walking anywhere."

He scooped her up into his arms then, and walked her into their bathroom as she shook her head, grinning despite herself. "Are you going to do this every time I have to pee? Which is like every thirty minutes?"

"If I have to," he replied. He then walked them inside the bathroom, lifted the lid to the toilet with his foot, and gently set her down on her feet.

"You're taking the bedrest thing a little too literally," she remarked.

Bruce shrugged. "I like taking care of you. You know that."

She did know that. He'd been doing a lot of it since their relationship had begun nearly two years ago, and she felt that he'd done far more for her than she had for him. She still felt a deficit between them in many areas, perhaps always would.

A few moments later they were back in bed, Bruce having carried her back as well, and as their daughter slept in the next room, Selina put the movie back on and rested her head on Bruce's shoulder.

"What's this about, exactly?" he asked, pulling up their soft black comforter around them.

Selina smiled. Where to even start? "It's about a ring. And wizards and hobbits and elves. Just watch it and find out."

"I didn't know you were into fantasy stuff," Bruce replied, his arm around her and hand running absently up and down her arm.

"Well, I'm not, like, crazy about it," Selina replied. "But it's an amazing story. Good actors, too. And Aragorn's hot."

Bruce's brows furrowed and he asked, "Who?"

She grinned and answered, "He hasn't shown up in the story yet. He's just... well, he's got the whole tall, dark and handsome thing going on. You know how I like that. And he gets dirty a lot."

"Dirty? Like mud dirty?"

"Like sexy sword-fighting warrior-man dirty," Selina replied, earning a light laugh from Bruce.

"I can wield a sword," Bruce offered. "I can show you one of these days, if you're saying its a turn on."

"Okay," Selina said, patting his chest lightly. "Now shut up and watch."

He chuckled his reply, and it was then that Selina realized that the last few moments had been the only ones since yesterday where she hadn't been thinking about the scare.

She leaned further into his arms, resting her head on his chest as he dropped a kiss to her forehead. He may have been the reason why she was vulnerable to pain now, and he may be the reason why a woman who previously had no guilt or regrets now had a good amount of both, but his arms were also the safest place in the world that she'd ever been. His love was worth breaking all of her own rules and rebelling against her better judgement, and their daughter was worth all of it and then some.

The hand that had been on her shoulder moved down to her side, then came to rest on her belly, holding her protectively. She knew what the touch meant, and she appreciated that he chose to convey the message through touch rather than words. They had six more days of waiting to deal with, and that left plenty of time for words later. For now, she was content to lay in his arms and let a movie distract her for a few short hours.

* * *

The next day, a slightly less sick Helena was sitting between Bruce and Selina in bed, watching cartoons and munching on a bowlful of apple slices as Selina stared unhappily at her phone.

"You're going to have to tell her," Bruce said, tapping on the keyboard of his laptop. He'd been doing some of his work from home this way, and the rest that he couldn't he delegated to Leslie, who was more than happy to do so considering the situation. "She's going to figure out something's up soon enough."

"I know," Selina groaned. Molly had been sent home with Aidan today, and had been texting Selina non-stop with random parenting questions and talking about how she should bring Helena over and have lunch or dinner with her. But Selina hadn't told her about her current problems and didn't want to, knowing the younger girl would freak out and worry and smother her with attention that she didn't really want. Selina was still, at heart, a largely solitary figure, and right now, with the stress of the unknown constantly brewing just under the surface, the only company she could bear to stand was that of Bruce and Helena. Besides, Molly was supposed to be happy with her new little boy right now, not fretting with Selina.

"I can tell her if you want," Bruce offered. "And I can tell her that you'll call her when you're ready to talk about it."

Selina paused at this. "... I don't know. I don't want to accidentally hurt her feelings."

"She doesn't actually strike me as the type who would get her feelings hurt over the way that you deal with things," Bruce replied. "I would just tell her if I were you."

Selina sighed and leaned back against the headboard. "I guess this is one of the consequences of having friends."

Bruce shrugged, patting Helena's head when she looked up at him with a big smile and started babbling while pointing to a dragon that had just appeared on the television. "Yeah. But I think talking to her might help more than you think."

Selina doubted that, but began typing a text to Molly explaining her situation anyway. Bruce was right, though - for as bubbly and light as Molly was, she wasn't easily offended or hurt, and Selina suspected that had to do with her background. Selina was glad, too - she didn't think she could deal with anyone like that.

A moment later, Selina had sent the text, and she sighed as she set the phone down in front of her. Then there was an apple slice in her face, held by a chubby little baby hand.

She gamely let Helena feed her the rest of her apple, grateful for her continuing lack of throwing up. Resting and taking it easy, rather than running around working all day while also taking care of Helena, seemed to be easing the nausea.

Less than two minutes after she sent the text, she got one in reply that was impressively long and just as emotional and rambly as she'd anticipated. Selina smiled as she read the younger girl's words, smiled wider when she read Molly's promise of giving her space if that was what she needed, then lost her smile when she looked up from her phone to glance at Bruce.

He was rubbing his eyes tiredly, though that wasn't entirely surprising. But then, oblivious to her stare, he started rubbing at one of his temples, and that set off a fresh sting of worry within her.

"Bruce?"

His eyes opened and he dropped his hand, meeting her gaze. "What?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he replied with a slight shrug. "Why?"

"I haven't seen you rub your head with your eyes closed in a long time."

"It's nothing like that," he said quickly. "Just a slight headache." When she looked at him skeptically, he smiled and added, "Really. It's not a big deal. Though your concern is kind of... sweet."

She rolled her eyes but her tone was more serious when she asked, "You would tell me if you started getting those... monsters of migraines again, though, wouldn't you?"

He nodded. "Of course I would. And even if I didn't tell you, you'd notice when I wouldn't be able to eat or get out of bed."

Selina nodded, shuddering inwardly at the memory of his physical ailments that he'd endured during their first months together. Bruce then turned back to his laptop, refusing to feel guilty at his slight white lie.

* * *

The headaches were not nearly on the same level as the ones he used to have, but they'd been keeping Bruce up at night since the day he'd brought Selina home from the hospital. He'd lay there as Selina slept restlessly next to him, Helena lying between them (neither had any desire to make her sleep on her own while she was sick), and his mind would race as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his head.

The sheer volume of worries on his mind was enough to trigger the headaches, and he assumed that's why he was having them after going so long without one. Running a hospital, taking care of your family, trying to figure out how to propose to the mother of your children, and dealing with a potential miscarriage was not easy for an obsessive mind like his to deal with. He liked to think that he hid it well from Selina, but the thought of her losing a child had hit him just as hard as it hit her.

At least with everything else on his mind, he was able to maintain control over the situations. But this, this sitting around and waiting for the ultrasound next week, was torture. He had no control, no power - all he could do was make sure Selina stayed in bed, take care of her and their daughter as best as he could, and hope for the best. And that was almost more than he could handle.

Then on the third day of Selina's bedrest, Helena woke up throwing up with a high fever. This sent both parents into a panicking frenzy, as Helena had never had anything worse than a cold up until then, but Bruce managed to reel himself in and calm himself as best as he could for Selina's sake.

He called Alfred and asked him to stay with Selina while he took Helena up to the hospital. Selina balked at having to stay home, wanting to be by her baby's side and hating that she couldn't be, but there was no other choice, and she knew it.

Bruce promised to call every half an hour with updates as Alfred made his way to their house. Selina then watched him walk away with their miserably sick baby, thinking this week would surely stand out in her memory as one of the worst ever. Bruce would have agreed wholeheartedly, and that was saying something.

* * *

Selina sat in bed, arms crossed, eyeing Alfred as he sat in a chair across from her, reading a newspaper. The Real Housewives of something or other was on the TV and she couldn't have paid attention to it if she'd wanted to.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," she said, breaking the silence between them. "I really don't need a babysitter."

Alfred let the newspaper drop a little bit and replied, "I was told to stay here and make sure you don't get out of bed and to see that you stayed calm at all costs."

Selina sighed. "Did he tell you why I'm stuck in bed like this?"

Alfred shook his head. "He did not. And you do not have to tell me if you don't wish to."

She shrugged, silently happy that Bruce had respected her enough to not tell Alfred what was going on without her consent. "I'm in the middle of a scare right now. The doctor called it a 'threatened miscarriage' and told me to stay on bedrest for a week. It's been three days. Four more days and I have another ultrasound, which is supposed to tell us if the baby's okay or not."

Alfred's expression remained stoic, but his eyes softened and she could see the sadness there as her words sunk in. He dropped the newspaper to his lap and said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm worried about him," Selina said quietly. "He's playing it off but he's been getting headaches again. And I don't think he's sleeping, either. I woke up around two last night, and I can tell when he's pretending to be asleep."

"I'm sure that this week is taking quite the toll on him," Alfred remarked. "He was over the moon when he told me you were expecting again. And for a man like him to feel powerless and have to wait for a resolution... you can imagine how difficult that must be."

"Yeah, I do. Because we're exactly the same that way." Selina took a deep breath. "And I'm sure he's trying to hide it all from me because he doesn't want me to worry, but that just makes me worry more."

Her phone rang then, and she answered it, finding Bruce on the other line with his first update of the day. Helena had gotten some medicine to stop the vomiting and was sleeping now, and he was waiting on blood test results, but the pediatrician thought it was simply a germ that needed to run its course.

Selina hung up a moment later, looking at her phone as she put it down slowly in her lap. "Alfred?"

"Yes?" he answered politely.

"Do you think he can be happy like this? Forever?"

"Like this?" Alfred asked, leaning forward in his chair a little. "You mean living a relatively quiet, domestic life?"

She nodded, still staring at the phone.

"Well," Alfred said, "I think you're better suited to answer that than I am. Do you think _you_ can be happy like this forever?"

Selina met his gaze then, not hesitating before she replied, "I never would have thought I would, but I think I can."

"Then if the master jewel thief can settle down and live happily, why not the vigilante as well?"

"I guess it's one of my stubborn, lingering worries," she muttered. "It's always in the back of my mind that he's going to get bored and need more."

Alfred smiled just a little bit, thinking about the ring that Bruce had ordered only a few days ago, and replied, "I'm confident that those days are behind him now. Before, he didn't have anything or anyone to bring him any real happiness outside of the cave. Now he does. Now he has family again for the first time since he was a boy. He doesn't have to spend his nights looking for something to fill the emptiness anymore."

Selina smiled a little at that and asked, "Can I ask you something? What did you think when you saw me with him in Florence? Honestly."

Alfred leaned back in his chair, replying, "Well, once I got past the shock and relief of seeing him alive, I thought about it and it made sense to me that a normal, every day girl was never what he needed."

"You didn't think he was making another mistake, shacking up with the morally ambiguous criminal?"

"I think it bears mentioning, Miss Kyle," Alfred said with a slight twinkle in his eye, "that the day you stole the pearls from him, I suggested he meet you for coffee and exchange tips of the trade. And I wasn't entirely joking. Has he never told you that?"

She grinned. "No, he hasn't."

"Yes, well. His exact words were, 'So now you're trying to set me up with a jewel thief?'" Alfred smiled and shook his head.

Selina laughed with him. "Are you serious?"

"That's why I wasn't surprised to see you with him," Alfred smiled. "In fact, I was quite relieved."

"Even after what I did to him?"

"You forget that there was another woman who betrayed him much more significantly during that time," Alfred replied. "And you saved his life, and by doing so, also saved Gotham."

Selina leaned back against the headboard and shrugged. "You people forgive too easily."

"Actually," Alfred said, "Bruce isn't known for his great capacity to forgive. So perhaps it's less forgiving too easily and more to do with you, specifically, and the role you've played in his life."

_Maybe_, Selina conceded silently.

* * *

Bruce came home with Helena a few hours later, armed with three different kinds of medicine that stopped her from throwing up, kept her fever down, and mostly kept her asleep. He thanked Alfred and sent him home, then finally returned to Selina.

He drew her a bath that she insisted he take with her, and while Helena slept soundly in her room, the couple relaxed in the warmest water safe for a pregnant woman.

A fair amount of bubbles covered them, Selina's back to his chest, lying comfortably between his legs, as she listened to Bruce recount his day at the hospital.

"... Her veins were so tiny. I made Leslie do the blood draw. I didn't trust anyone else to come within three feet of her with a needle."

He was massaging her scalp as he washed her hair, and she closed her eyes, grinning at his words. "You've got the overprotective father thing down pat already."

"And it's a good thing," Bruce said. "She didn't even cry when the needle went in. Leslie just gave her a pink Popsicle beforehand and that kept her happy."

"I'm glad," Selina sighed. "I imagined her screaming and crying the whole time."

Bruce shook his head, gently dipping her head back into the water to rinse her hair. "She barely cried at all. But I also made them treat her while I held her the whole time."

Selina chuckled, glancing back at him. "That's kind of awesome."

He smiled back at her, then placed his hand on her neck and brought her close for a kiss. She kissed him back slowly, all too aware of their current position and the restrictions they had to obey for awhile longer. She pulled away when his other hand ran itself along her waist as he tried to deepen the kiss. "Don't think so, honey."

"What?" he grinned innocently as she laid her head on his shoulder. Her neck was exposed to him then, wet and inviting, and he couldn't help but press his lips to it.

"That's not fair, you know," she murmured, closing her eyes at his touch. "Not when we're... banned from sex."

"Sorry," he replied in a low voice, trailing his lips to her ear.

He kissed behind her ear and then softly bit her lobe as she opened her eyes and thought of a way to quickly diffuse the mood. "I'm surprised you've got the energy for this when you haven't been sleeping at night."

His lips stilled on her then, and he slowly pulled away from her. His confused gaze met her nonchalant one. "Why do you say -"

"Oh come on," she interrupted. "I'm not stupid, Bruce. I wake up a couple times a night, every night, and ever since this started, you haven't been getting hardly any sleep. You're really bad at faking it, too."

She ran her fingers through some of his wet hair and then let her hand fall to his chest as he looked away, off towards nothing. His lips pursed a little and he replied, "Yeah, I can't seem to turn off my brain enough to sleep. Not with everything going on."

"You should have talked to me about it," Selina said gently. "And about the headaches, too."

"I didn't want to worry you," he said. "Or add to your stress, especially right now." Then he paused for a moment and added, "You haven't told me about your nightmares, either, so I figured we were even."

She froze a bit at that, staring down at the bubbles surrounding them. It stood to reason that he'd noticed the signs of her unsettling dreams as he lied awake at night next to her. "Yeah... not much to tell there."

"They're not the usual ones that you used to have, are they?"

She shook her head. "No. They're... new ones where I dream that I wake up covered in blood. Sometimes there's a little tiny baby in the middle of all the blood. It's pretty horrific."

"God, Selina," Bruce winced, shifting them a little so that she was more on her side, her arm slung over his chest and face turned towards his. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged, looking up into his eyes as she answered, "Same reason you didn't tell me about your stuff."

Bruce didn't say anything, pursing his lips once more before bringing his chin to the top of her head. She settled against him, murmuring, "I think this is the first time I've ever been naked with you and didn't want to jump your bones."

He chuckled despite himself. "Yeah. This is all doing a hell of a number on me, too."

"I don't feel like myself," she admitted. "This is all so... unlike me. To be this scared and this anxious. I hate it."

"We'll know for sure that everything's okay in a few days," Bruce assured her. "We don't have much longer to wait."

"You're pretty confident to say that," Selina said. "That everything will be okay."

"We're fighters, Selina," he said softly. "It's in his or her genes."

"His or hers," she repeated. "I bet it's a he."

"What makes you think that?"

She shrugged. "Just a feeling. Like I had last time."

"Well, you were right last time," Bruce noted. "I guess we'll see if you're right again."

She hoped they would. She laid her head down on his chest and pressed a light kiss to his dampened skin, closing her eyes and savoring his arms around her.

* * *

The night before the ultrasound, Selina was in bed as usual, Bruce at her side also as usual, and Helena was on the floor playing with a bevy of new toys that Bruce had decided she'd earned by recovering from her sickness. She was busy playing with a new pony and castle set while Selina continued Bruce's education in the Lord of the Rings.

"I thought Aragorn was with the elf woman," Bruce idly commented. "Why's he giving that other girl the eye?"

"'That other girl' is Eowyn," Selina replied sharply, "and she is way more badass than Arwen, 'the elf woman'.

Bruce raised his eyebrows at the force behind Selina's words, amused by her apparently strong feelings about the fictional characters. "Who's he end up with?"

"Can't tell you," she muttered. "Just watch."

"But... what's the point of introducing her now and having her fall in love with him if they don't end up together?"

"I didn't say - God, just watch the damn movie," Selina half-snapped. "You're worse than a child."

Bruce chuckled. "And you're really bad at not giving away the ending. I can tell he ends up with the elf just by the way you're gritting your teeth right now."

She swatted him with her hand and laughed as she half-exclaimed, "I didn't say anything! Be quiet and watch!"

"Fine," he smiled, pulling her down into his arms and cuddling her to him. Helena got up then and toddled over to the bed, showing them the ponies in her hands and excitedly babbling "_Baba_!" - it was her word for everything - before toddling back to the floor and plopping down with the ponies again.

Selina chuckled at the baby's antics and turned her attention back to the movie, though not before glancing at the clock on the wall nearby and noting that soon, it would be time to go to sleep, and that was good news. Her ultrasound was scheduled for early the next morning, and she'd never dreaded and anticipated something so strongly at the same time.

"Time goes by faster if you don't watch the clock," Bruce whispered into her ear.

She sighed and replied, "I can't get anything past you, huh?"

He shook his head. "Not really."

She glanced up at the clock again and said, "Only thirteen more hours."

He nodded and kissed her temple, silently counting down with her.

* * *

When the hour of the appointment finally arrived, and Selina found herself in another hospital gown on another exam chair, her heart was pounding and her anxiety was at its peak. She and Bruce watched the doctor set up her equipment, both calm on the outside and anything but on the inside.

The scan began the way any other did, with kind words from Dr. Jones and uncomfortable sensations. Silence filled the hospital room as the doctor started searching for the baby.

Both Bruce and Selina's eyes remained fixed on the monitor as the seconds ticked away, a few moments feeling like an eternity as the doctor maneuvered the wand to find the baby.

Selina was just at the cusp of losing it, convincing herself that there was now no baby to be found when she wrenched her eyes away and shut them tightly. It had all been for nothing, the waiting and the hoping, and Bruce had been wrong. Of course he had been. She'd known it all along, deep down inside.

"Selina."

She shook her head and tried to ignore Bruce's voice.

"Selina, look."

His voice was light, maybe even happy sounding, and it was enough to startle her into looking back to the screen.

It was then that she saw it, the perfect little eight week old fetus, noticeably more developed than it had been a week ago. Then the wand moved again and the sweetest sound in the world filled the room - the strong, determined heartbeat of their child, fluttering beautifully.

"That's what we like to hear," Dr. Jones smiled. "Nice, strong heartbeat. Good measurements. You've got a healthy baby, Miss Kyle."

Selina hadn't allowed herself to cry once in the last week, as much as she'd wanted to from time to time. She'd been determined to be strong and, even in the moments where she knew that she wasn't, fake it until she was. She didn't cry when she bled. She didn't cry when she woke up from the terrifying nightmares. She didn't cry when she'd sit in bed watching Helena play with her toys, wondering if the child in her womb would ever meet his or her sister.

But now, as the greatest wave of relief she'd ever felt washed over her, she finally let herself cry. She finally let the tears fall, sad ones replaced by happy ones, and in that moment, she wouldn't have cared who saw or what they thought.

Bruce's own emotions went into hyperdrive at the sight of Selina crying tears of joy and relief, and as he gripped her hand and watched her unabashedly let herself fall apart, he almost asked her to marry him right then and there.

He controlled himself, though, and contented himself with a kiss to her moist cheek as the dark thoughts he'd been battling slipped away.

Selina opened her eyes and met his gaze, finding it just as watery as her own, and no words were needed. They simply smiled at one another, conveying everything in their eyes and lips before turning back towards the monitor, and watching their new son or daughter thrive beautifully.


	20. Chapter 20

__**A/N: note at the end of the chapter today! :)**

_A few months later_

When Bruce and Selina found out during her first pregnancy that she was carrying a girl, they had gone to a boutique immediately after and picked out the first of many pink infant outfits. When they found out the sex of their second child, they figured it was best not to mess with tradition, and headed to the same boutique to pick out the child's first outfit.

It was a small but high end store on a strip of similar places of business in downtown Nassau, and when they walked inside of the store, Helena in tow by way of a lightweight stroller, Selina glanced at Bruce and smiled.

The store was divided into two sections, the left full of pastel pink and the right full of light blue. There were other colors mixed in as well but for the most part, those two most common infant colors were the dominant hues. The first time they'd come here, they'd gone to the left.

Today, fresh out of Selina's 20 week appointment and accompanying ultrasound, they shared a smile and went to the right.

"Told you he was a boy," Selina gloated as they made their way into the sea of baby stuff.

"You did," Bruce replied, pushing Helena's stroller. She was decked out today in a large, dark purple bow and a light purple dress with a girly design on the front that proclaimed her a "big sister". "And I'm kind of relieved. We were getting nowhere with girl names."

"Ugh," Selina muttered in agreement, flipping through a rack of little blue sleepers. "Yeah. At least we don't have to worry about that anymore. I still can't believe you actually liked the name _Ophelia_."

Bruce laughed and shrugged at the same time. "It's a nice name! You're the one that liked _Elizabeth_."

"It's a strong, classic name!"

Bruce scoffed. "It's a boring name. I mean, Thomas Alfred isn't exciting either, I guess, but it means a lot."

Selina smirked. "And don't forget that I came up with it. A long time ago. Before we even knew Helena was a girl."

"Yes, you get all the credit for it," Bruce smiled, watching her rifle through a pile of blue onesies. "And I love you even more for it, because you know how much those names mean to me."

She glanced back at him and raised a brow, "Getting sappy in the middle of a store?"

He shrugged. "Not sappy. Just... incredibly happy."

She smiled at that, unable to help it. She was incredibly happy too. Her pregnancy had gone remarkably smooth in the weeks since the early scare, she hadn't puked in five weeks, and to top it all off, the doctor had even finally cleared them for sex. The doctor had advised caution initially, even after the scare had ended, opting to be safe rather than sorry, but she felt comfortable giving them the green light now. Problem was, Selina wasn't sure Bruce would feel comfortable with it yet, and for that matter, maybe she wouldn't either, considering how utterly terrified they still were for something to go wrong - but it was still good news.

Then something buried in the blue clothes caught her attention, and Selina's eyes widened. "Oh my God. Bruce. Look at this."

"What?"

She held up a black onesie in her hands and spread it out in front of her to show him. Bruce looked at it and half-cringed, half-smiled. "Oh God."

Selina laughed and turned it over to get another look at it herself. On the black fabric was nothing other than a Bat symbol, one set against silver light bleeding out among it's sharp edges. The symbol itself was identical to the one that used to shine in Gotham's night sky.

They weren't surprised to see a piece of clothing with a Bat symbol on it, because back in the States, Batman's death over two years ago had sparked a huge wave of hero worship that resulted in a generation of kids growing up with every kind of Batman merchandise one could imagine. On his last visit to the island, Blake had been sporting a Bat hoodie complete with pointy bat ears, and Bruce had all but tackled him to make him take it off. What _was_ surprising was finding a Batman-style onesie here, in the Bahamas.

"Well," Selina smiled, slinging the onesie over her arm, "looks like I found Thomas' first outfit."

Bruce's hands went to his hips and he squinted uncomfortably at the onesie. "I don't... I don't know..."

"Oh come on, Bruce," Selina smiled. "It'll be adorable."

"Yeah, but... it was bad enough when Blake showed up in that damn hoodie."

Selina sauntered up to him and brushed her hand over his on the stroller handle as she whispered into his ear, "You should be flattered and honored that people wear this kind of stuff. And your own kids wearing it, while nobody else but a few people know how significant it actually is, is kind of awesome."

He pursed his lips a little as she pulled away, and replied in a whisper similar to hers, "I just don't want people to glamorize or trivialize... this," he gestured to the bat symbol on the onesie.

"Glamorize it?" she repeated. "Bruce, this is the clearest evidence in the world that you inspired people and made a huge impact. That's what you set out to do, right? I'd say you succeeded. Wildly. And I say your son's first onesie is this one, whether you like it or not."

She raised her eyebrows to him and smiled, then darted off, and Bruce sighed as he half-smiled and followed her. He peered down at Helena, who was happily surveying the store while sucking down a juice box, and muttered, "_Your mother_."

"What about me?" Selina asked, unexpectedly popping up behind Bruce with a few new outfits on her arm. She kissed the side of his neck and he grinned, grabbing her hand and spinning her around until she was between him and the stroller. Her belly was a bit bigger than it had been at this stage the first time around, though that was to be expected, but it didn't put a lot of space between them quite yet.

He placed a small kiss on her lips and she looked up into his eyes, seeing a glimmer of the hunger he'd been repressing for weeks now. They hadn't exactly gone without, but being restricted at all put an instant strain on things. And for Selina, overcoming the nauseous stage of things and dealing with hormones doubling every day was threatening to send her into hyperdrive.

"Haven't seen you give me that look in awhile," Selina murmured. "And in a baby store of all places."

"Yeah," he replied, eyes on her lips. "I can't help it."

"Does this mean you're feeling up to... taking the doctor's advice?"

Just as she suspected, those words seemed to rein him in, and the glimmer disappeared. She slipped out from between him and the stroller as he started walking with a slight grin. "... I don't know. Do you feel comfortable with it?"

She rolled her eyes at herself and muttered, "I don't know. I'm still freaked out."

"Then we should just wait a little longer," he suggested, turning a corner. "Maybe one more month."

When Selina didn't reply and merely walked silently at his side, he nudged her with his elbow and said in a hushed tone, "Hey, don't look like that. Haven't I been making up for the waiting?"

A couple walked past them then, young and oblivious in their own expectant-parent land, and Selina almost blushed. Then she grimaced, thinking she really must be going crazy to blush at just those barely suggestive words. "Yes, Bruce, you have. But you know how it is... you're allowed to do, say, four out of five things, and automatically that makes you want to do the fifth thing more than anything in the world. But maybe you don't know how that is. You seem to be a lot better at turning it off than I am."

He scoffed. "Yeah, I thought it would be easy since I spent most of my adult life turning it off, but it turns out it's different when your only company isn't Alfred."

Helena's screeching interrupted them then, as she pointed at a pink stuffed dog on a wall and exclaimed "_Daw! Daw! Daw_!"

Bruce, unable to say no to either of the women in his life, grabbed the toy down from the wall and handed it to his daughter, who grinned in delight as her little hands grasped the plush toy. Selina rolled her eyes. "That toy's for little babies. Not toddlers."

Bruce shrugged with a smile and headed towards the register to check out. "Life's too short to tell her no all the time."

"You say that now," Selina said. "Wait until she's a spoiled little ten year old who won't stop screaming at you until you buy her a family of ponies."

He glanced down at Helena as they waited in line and smiled as he asked her, "You won't do that, will you?"

Selina scoffed. "Why wouldn't she? I would, if I was her. She probably won't hear the word 'no' out of your mouth until she comes and asks you if she can go date some cute boy at school."

Bruce's eyes snapped up to Selina's then, narrow and instantly hard as he said through gritted teeth, "Don't even say that. I'm serious. I can't handle thinking about her... dating." He said the word like it was the single most horrific, foul concept in existence.

"What about when Thomas starts dating? Will it be the same for him?"

Bruce paused and admitted, "Well, no."

"Why the double standard?" Selina asked, hands in the air in an exasperated gesture. "I mean, think about all of the little sluts who'll be trying to stick their nasty slut claws into him."

Bruce chuckled, setting the clothes Selina had chosen on the cashier's table, including the blasted Batman onesie. "Alright, so how about this - I'll make Helena's dating life hell, and you can do the honors for Thomas. I'll beat the boys away and you can scare away the sluts."

"As long as you foot the bills for all of the years of therapy they'll both need."

Bruce grinned. "Fair enough."

* * *

Not long after their day of discoveries and shopping, Bruce received a call from the jewelry store that the ring had finally arrived. He'd grabbed Molly and all but raced to the place, feeling ridiculously as nervous as a little boy about to proclaim his love for his first crush, only to have his excitement and anxiety turn into anger and frustration once they arrived.

Molly's purpose in coming along was to test out the sizing of the ring, as she had the same size ring finger as Selina. And when she tried on the diamond ring, only to be unable to get it past her knuckle from it being apparently one size too small, Bruce dropped his face into his hands and figured that would be his luck.

He'd planned to propose only two weeks later, on their first vacation as a family, in the pristine Western Canadian mountains. He'd chosen a cool mountain getaway because Selina had become a human heatbox, sweltering to death on the island even more than she normally did due to the extra human being she was carting around, and she didn't know that he'd planned to propose to her on top of the highest peak.

So much for that.

He ended up giving the store owner a tongue lashing that left Molly wide-eyed and unabashedly impressed, and decided to go on with the vacation as planned, sans proposal. As his anger faded with the passing of days, he decided maybe the whole mountain top thing was a little over-dramatic and that it was a blessing in disguise. Problem was, that put him right back at square one.

Everyone had suggestions - Alfred told him to do something simple but original and sincere, Molly told him to go "big and awesome", and Christian told him to do whatever he bloody felt like doing because he'd bet his oil company that Selina would say yes no matter how he asked. Blake was the only one who dared not to make any sort of suggestion, instead putting up his hands and saying, "Whoa, I barely even know how to ask Raven to move in with me."

Meanwhile, the hospital barely made profits, but what it lacked in revenue it made up for in press coverage. Leslie provided a wonderful face for the hospital, and it made big waves for being both a free hospital and one that was investing in the most cutting edge of technology. Budget wise, they mostly broke even every month, but Bruce was happy with that. Profits would come in time, and until then, as long as there was money to pay the staff and treat the patients who needed it most - and there was - that was all he cared about.

Meanwhile, Selina had managed to find a balance of work and home that didn't leave her completely exhausted by the afternoon and harried throughout her entire day, and that had made all the difference in keeping her pregnancy from overwhelming her. She wasn't quite as emotionally erratic as she had been the first time around but she was still no cakewalk, and to add to everything, Helena's spoiling was starting to catch up with her and Alfred was having to step in to give her parents tips on how to keep her from turning into a complete wretch.

Altogether, things were going great, and were as chaotic as ever. They watched the spring turn into summer and waited patiently as Thomas continued to grow, and when Selina had reached 30 weeks, the ring finally came in to the store in the proper size.

Molly tested out the size again, and this time the ring actually fit. Bruce paid half price for the ring - being rich didn't mean he had any interest in paying full price for a ring that should have been on Selina's finger over two months ago - and shoved the box into his pocket, and went home with a smile on his face.

He tried to make a quick getaway to their bedroom to stash the box somewhere she wouldn't find it, having no idea yet where that would be - for having waited months to get the ring, he was woefully unprepared to hide it - but Selina grabbed him as soon as he walked into the door and dragged him into the kitchen with her.

"Watch Helena for me, would you?" she asked, looking every bit the housewife with her hair thrown up and an apron on over her work clothes, barely concealing her big baby bump.

"Yeah, can I run to our room first though -"

"No," Selina said quickly, turning back to a boiling pot on the stove. Bruce stuck his hands in his pockets, including the one that had the ring in it, and looked up in surprise to see Alfred busying himself in the kitchen next to Selina. On the floor Helena sat amidst a big pile of pots and pans, and she was banging loudly on them with two big wooden spoons. She was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice that Bruce had walked in the room after being gone all day, which was usually something that prompted her to go running into his arms so frantically that she'd trip and fall on the way.

Alfred glanced back to Bruce and nodded. "Sir."

"Alfred," Bruce nodded back. Then his expression changed as he sniffed the air, and he asked, "Is that -"

"It is indeed," Alfred grinned, sharing a look with Selina. "I told you he'd go to pieces when he walked in and smelled it."

Bruce looked around and asked lamely, "Is it my birthday or something?"

"Not until next month, but I figured it wise to teach Selina how to cook you your favorite meal beforehand," Alfred explained, shaking some seasoning into a steaming saucepan. "Mostly so I never have to cook it again myself."

Bruce smiled at his old butler, feeling his stomach suddenly growl at the smell of the meal that had been his favorite as long as he could remember. It was a creamy chicken and pasta dish that he never bothered to remember the name of, and he used to bug Alfred to make it so often as a child and teen that for awhile Alfred had flat-out refused to make it, and Bruce would have to harass him into giving in. Which he usually did.

"I do really need to run out of the room for a minute, though -"

"No," Selina barked, throwing him a glare over her shoulder. "Helena's been a jerk all day and she just got happy with the pots and pans a minute ago. So park it and keep her happy."

Bruce fretted for a moment, looking down at his daughter and then weighing the odds of Selina getting her hands near the box in his pocket and thus discovering it's existence. With Alfred around and Helena wide awake, the odds were slim, but still, he was now feeling anxious and slightly paranoid, and apparently it was showing on his face.

"All right there?" Alfred asked, and Bruce quickly snapped out of his blank stare and nodded.

"Yep. Fine."

Then he sat down on the floor next to his daughter, who looked up at him and suddenly realized he was there. She greeted him by bonking him on the head with one of the wooden spoons, and he smiled gamely.

* * *

About an hour later, Selina was giggling as Alfred told one of many embarrassing stories about Bruce's childhood years, Helena was throwing her dinner on the floor, and Bruce was swallowing the last bite on his plate and trying not to cringe too badly at Alfred's tales.

"So there I find them," Alfred smiled, "in the kitchen, under the table of all places, and he's got a pair of scissors in his hand and a big chunk of Rachel's hair in the other. She's crying hysterically, and he's got this frantic, crazed look on his face. I ask what in bloody hell he's doing, and he tells me with tears in his eyes, 'I got gum in her hair. I panicked.'"

"She told me to cut it out!" Bruce protested, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, Thomas Wayne, being a doctor and having some friends in the field of dentistry, wasn't a fan of chewing gum in general," Alfred explained. "It was quite banned in the house, so I'm sure you two thought you were getting away with quite the crime by finding some and chewing it."

"Yeah we did," Bruce grinned, glancing at Selina at his side, who looked entertained by the story. "And then her mom cried when she saw her hair. Actually cried. Which made Rachel cry even more."

"How did you even get gum in her hair in the first place?" Selina asked.

"I... might have been chewing four or five pieces at a time and then balling them up to throw at her."

Selina crinkled her nose and laughed. "Gross! No wonder she never wanted to date you. I wouldn't have wanted to."

"Ouch," Bruce grinned, silently grateful beyond words that they were at such a place in their relationship where Rachel and other parts of his past could be so casually discussed without fear of hurt feelings or misunderstandings. It was no trivial accomplishment. "Good thing I met you then when my flirting skills were a little more evolved."

"Sure," she grinned, taking a sip of water, "keep telling yourself that." Then she turned to Alfred and said, "Did he ever tell you how he decided to tell me that he wasn't dead? He stalked me for weeks in Italy, and I kept seeing his face everywhere and thinking I'd gone insane. Then I go home one night to find him in my apartment, just like 'Hey, guess what, I'm not dead, but I am a stalker and I did break into your apartment.'"

Alfred rolled his eyes and said, "I've come to both appreciate and truly despise his taste for the dramatic."

"My gift and my curse," Bruce muttered, grinning despite himself and the way Selina was rolling her eyes.

They'd all finished eating a few moments ago, save for Helena, who was playing in the sauce of her food in her high chair. Bruce reached his arm around Selina and pulled her into his side, and she laid her head on his shoulder as he leaned down to murmur softly into her ear, "You didn't have to do this. You worked all day, you're tired."

"I know I didn't have to," she replied, eyes tired but bright as she looked up at him. "But I wanted to. Supermom, right?"

He smiled but replied, "I hope you don't feel like you have to be a 'supermom'."

She shrugged as Bruce watched Alfred make faces at Helena and elicit cute giggles from her. "I think any woman who can work all day and take care of a kid is supermom. Especially with another kid in here," she said, gesturing to her 30-week old baby belly. "By the way, he's kicking the crap out of me right now."

"Really?" Bruce asked brightly, taking that as his cue to place his hand on her belly and try to feel for himself. Thomas was proving to he trickier than Helena, being rather good at hiding during ultrasounds and kicking and moving around where Bruce couldn't feel from the outside.

"Lower," Selina said, moving Bruce's hand down to the lower right side of her belly. "His legs are bunched up around there."

"How can you tell?" Bruce asked, feeling nothing so far.

"Sometimes when he's flipping around I can feel the outline of his feet and stuff," she replied. "It's a little weird but cool too."

Bruce nodded, then after another moment asked, "He quit moving, didn't he."

"Yep."

Bruce sighed and then poked gently at her belly. "This isn't fair, you hear me in there?"

Selina laughed, and he poked again, chuckling with her. Then, quicker than she could believe, Thomas gave a swift kick, right where Bruce's hand was. Bruce stared with wide eyes and then broke into a smile as Selina threw her head back and wailed, "Oh, God, this one's got attitude, too! We're so screwed!"

Bruce laughed with her, testing her theory and giving his son another poke. He got another kick in return, almost as if the boy was telling his father to go bug off and leave him alone, and Bruce looked at Selina and said, "I think you're right."

Selina shook her head but placed a light kiss on his lips as she said, "Well, I guess that's what you get when you mix our genes together."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, returning her kiss and thanking God that he'd put the ring box in his left pocket when her hand briefly ran over his right leg under the table.

"Hey," Selina said, straightening up in her seat, "can you get Helena cleaned up and change her clothes so she can go run around outside for awhile?"

"Sure," Bruce said, leaping at the chance to get rid of the ring box.

* * *

A few moments later, Bruce had Helena on his hip and was racing around his bedroom, trying to find a secure place to stash the ring. He looked in the closet and thought about maybe sticking it in the pocket of some of his hanging clothes towards the back, but what if it fell out? The chest of drawers was a no-go as well, since folding and putting away laundry was the one area of housework that Selina didn't despise and therefore usually kept up with meticulously.

He stood in the middle of the room, looking around helplessly, randomly wishing that he had a safe in the house. Then he remembered how he met Selina in the first place and laughed at the stupidity in the thought.

He glanced at Helena and as she smiled at him, he asked, "Any ideas?"

She then launched into a tirade of random noises, sounding a bit like "Ba da ba ba der da der", and since he lacked a dictionary to translate baby babble, Bruce sighed and set her down on the bed, figuring he may as well get her clothes changed like Selina asked, while he floundered in confusion.

* * *

Unlike Selina, Bruce didn't bother to change out of his clothes, still wearing the white shirt and black pants that were the remnants of his suit as she took Helena outside to the beach. Alfred was in the kitchen, making good on his offer to clean up since both Bruce and Selina had worked all day while he'd been enjoying his island retirement, and Bruce lingered near the doorway to the back deck, rolling up the hems of his pants before kicking off his shoes and following Selina into the sand.

She was barefoot, dressed in white shorts and a flowy medium blue top that somehow made her eyes appear even deeper brown than usual. Her hair was still swept up messily, a few pieces out and framing her face when they weren't blowing in the peaceful island breeze.

The sun wasn't setting yet, but the day was growing old, and the humidity had been taken down a notch, thankfully. Bruce stepped down the wooden staircase into the sand, hands in his pockets as his eyes drifted from Selina to Helena. She was in a little yellow sundress, barefoot, plopping down happily in the sand with a bucket and shovel in each hand. Her hair in the sunlight was the same hue as Selina's, and her skin was tanner somehow than both of her parents'. He figured it had something to do with growing up in the warmth of the sun rather than under the smog and clouds of Gotham.

He walked quietly to Selina's side, so quietly that she seemed to startle a little bit when she realized he was right there.

"Scare you?" he grinned, giving her a little nudge with his arm.

She rolled her eyes. "We established a long time ago that you can't sneak up on me."

"Whatever you say."

She exhaled lightly, her eyes on Helena as she played in the sand. "Her hair's getting long. It'll be to the middle of her back soon."

He stepped behind her then, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders before his fingers started working the knots under her skin through her shirt. She relaxed into his touch but only let him massage her for a moment before she turned in his arms and wrapped hers around him in an unexpected hug.

It took him a second or two to embrace her in return, surprised by the simple but uncommon gesture. She didn't usually hug him just to hug him, and especially not out of nowhere in a moment like this.

"You okay?" He couldn't help but ask it.

She nodded against his neck, pulling away then and shaking her head at herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He looked at her closely, his hands on her waist and hers still on his shoulders. "You sure?"

She looked off to their left, avoiding his gaze as she seemed to contemplate speaking or keeping her mouth shut. "I'm just having one of those moments where I feel like I'm about to explode."

"... Is that a bad thing?"

"No," she shook her head, finally looking up into his eyes. "I just... you know I don't really know how to say this kind of stuff."

"Just try," he said softly.

She looked up at him as he brushed away one of her pieces of hair as it tried to fly into her eye. "I'm just really happy, Bruce. _Really_ happy. I smile like an idiot from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep and I... it scares the hell out of me because I'm just waiting for something to happen and take it away. But most of the time I'm too happy to even worry about that."

He smiled softly, taking in her moment of unguarded honesty and keeping his mouth shut as she continued to speak. "And I'm so huge now and I can almost feel the hormones coursing through me and making me talk like this and feel this way, because normally I would not be rambling like this and you know it."

"You're gorgeous when you ramble," he smiled, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm serious though," she said, one of her hands moving up, letting her fingertips trace his jaw as she looked up at him. "I can't even tell you how happy you've made me. Or how much I love you."

"Then show me."

It all happened so fast, when he'd later look back on the moment he would barely understand how it had happened at all. In a split second, many things seemed to click into place in his head at once. His left pocket suddenly felt heavy, like the box he was hiding inside of it weighed a ton and was maybe also on fire to boot; he realized that his months and months of planning had really been completely unnecessary, because Selina didn't need a flashy backdrop or the perfect setup to make this moment everything she deserved it to be; and the gut instinct that had never truly failed him once in his life was screaming at him that this was it, this was the moment to do it, while she was open like this and spilling herself to him as best she knew how.

His last three words had barely left his lips by the time he'd dropped down to one knee, his hand deftly pulling out the troublesome ringbox in one swift motion as Selina's eyes widened to such huge saucers that he almost actually laughed. He felt himself shaking all over, adrenaline and anxiety pumping in sync with one another, and he instantly forgot every single speech he'd ever dreamed up for this moment as soon as his knee hit the sand.

It was back to pure instinct now, and it had better not fail him.

"Selina," he began in a slightly shaky voice, watching her swallow at the sight of the ringbox in his hand. He took both of her limply hanging hands in his free one and said, "You... are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Everything I have, everything I'll ever have - it's all because of you."

She looked like she was about to go into shock or start hyperventilating, or both. That, he'd expected.

"The thing is, like you said, I know that words can't ever really say all that I want to say to you. But I can show you, and you can show me."

She continued to stare down at him, utterly speechless for maybe the second time in her entire life. He let go of her hands to place both of his on her swollen belly, the ringbox balanced between two of his fingers as his palms lay flat over her womb. He looked at her belly and a smile graced his lips as he said, "You've given me a beautiful, perfect daughter. And you've given me a son that I can't wait to meet and hold, and watch get chased down the beach and tortured by his big sister."

He looked up earnestly into her eyes, finding her expression not as terrified now, which was encouraging, but she still appeared to be not breathing. He took her hands into his free one again and said softly, "After all that you've given me, the least I can give you is my name."

Finally, he flipped open the little black box, showing her the diamond that he'd picked out for her and nearly strangled the jewelry store owner to death over. "Marry me."

* * *

Silently, Alfred snapped a photo with his cell phone from the open doors of the house. He'd finished up the dishes and had decided to come out and check on the family, only to discover the sight of the man he loved as a son down on one knee, finally proposing. He knew that Bruce hadn't planned on this, and that it must have been an entirely spontaneous decision on his part, so Alfred decided to snap a few photos for them. They'd thank him later.

He smiled, knowing full well what Selina's answer would be.

* * *

"_Marry me_."

The fact that she'd known this was coming, realistically, did nothing to keep Selina from going into shock. Sure, she knew he wanted to get married, and it had always only been a matter of time once they'd finally started being honest with each other about how deeply in love they really were. But hearing the words - God, the _words_ - and seeing the ring... _that ring_... that was when it all hit her like a freight train.

She stared into his hazel pools of eyes as he waited for an answer, and as if this were a near death experience rather than a proposal, she saw her life flash before her in a split second of chaos and fear, held together by his hands on hers, keeping her anchored to the earth.

All she saw were flashes of pain, people who had come and gone but never stayed, hurt and death and tragedy colored by shades of gray that she'd clung to in order to survive through it all. Endless cycles of the same things, all ending the same way, in the same pain that faded to numb and chipped away at the person she was underneath the walls of steel she'd erected to protect herself.

Then there was _him_. That was when it all changed.

The flashes dissolved half a second after they'd appeared, and she was back in the present. Surrounded by the bright blue of the sky and the emerald green of the ocean, the warmth of her lover on his knee in front of her, and the sound of her daughter playing a few feet away from them. Not to be forgotten, the son that she was carrying gave her a gentle nudge with his heel.

And just like that, she could see her future. It was no different than it had been a few moments ago, but there were key changes - her name the most significant of all. How long had she yearned as a child, coping with the death of her mother, to be rid of the monster her father had become? And all of these years she'd kept his name like a brick around her neck that she hadn't even realized was dragging her down until now, until this moment in time, with a man she didn't deserve offering his own name to her.

She wondered if he'd ever know how much his name really meant to her. She wondered why she hadn't known herself until this very moment.

She gripped his hand back with hers, feeling the tears coming but using everything she had in her to sniff them back and make them wait a minute. Her answer - which never would have been anything but precisely what it was, if she was being honest - needed to be spoken with a clear voice.

She opened her mouth, their gazes locked, and with but a few words, felt the brick around her neck be snipped away. "Yeah. Yes. _Yes_."

* * *

He almost forgot to put the ring on her finger. As overjoyed, ecstatic, and every other joyful adjective that he was, he almost fell apart and let the moment turn into an embarrassing one that she'd probably give him hell over until their dying day, but he caught himself at the last minute. He took the ring out of the box with a hand that was on the verge of violent shaking now, and placed it on her left ring finger, which was shaking just as badly as his whole hand was.

Then he was off his knee and he wanted to crush her to him, pick her up and never put her down, but she had a huge belly in the way, so he had to make do with the most intense and unashamedly happy kiss he'd ever given in his life. She returned it with gusto, and it was the perfect end to a perfect, unexpected, unscripted moment.

He leaned his forehead on hers after they were forced to part for air, and he held her face in his hands as he opened his eyes and asked breathlessly, "You're really gonna marry me?"

She laughed. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"We're really doing this."

She nodded, her hands on his wrists, a smile on her face. "God, Bruce, please don't make me have a panic attack now."

He laughed and kissed her forehead, then her lips, and then her left hand. The ring looked just as gorgeous on her hand as he'd expected. He pulled away then and smiled brightly at her before dropping to his knees one more time.

This time he put both of his hands on her big round belly and continued to smile brightly as he half-whispered to her baby bump, "She said yes - you hear me in there? She said yes."

She was laughing softly at him as he scrambled up to his feet once more and half-ran to Helena. He scooped her up and out of the sand and held her up so that her face was level with his as he beamed at her. "Mama said yes, baby. You're gonna be the cutest little flower girl ever."

Selina laughed even harder, listening to Bruce Wayne talking about flower girls - he'd really been thinking through the details of these things for awhile, clearly - and then he was back at her side, their daughter in his arms as he pulled Selina into another embrace.

This, he thought, was exactly how things were supposed to be. He felt so alive and vital, so much more so than he ever had before - even the adrenaline rushes he'd experienced as a masked vigilante couldn't compare to this.

Selina seemed to sense this, and as he released her from the embrace and smiled at her with content eyes, she couldn't help but give him a little hell. It's who she was, after all.

"You know," she smirked, "I may be a bitch sometimes and I know why you waited so long to ask me, but... I would have said yes a long time ago if you'd have just asked me."

He shook his head at her a little bit, unable to feel any irritation towards her at all at the moment. She could have done or said anything and he wouldn't have cared. "I think everything turned out exactly as it was supposed to."

She pulled him to her with a hand on the back of her neck, Helena giggling in his grip as Selina kissed him one more time. "Yeah. It did."

* * *

They walked back inside the house grinning like happy morons, and found Alfred leaning against the kitchen doorframe, wearing a knowing grin as they stopped in front of him.

Bruce let Helena down from his arms, and when he straightened back up, Alfred turned his eyes to Selina and said, "Well, let's see the rock."

She smiled and held up her left hand, displaying the ring happily. He eyed it and told Bruce, "Just as lovely as I anticipated."

"You were watching, weren't you?" Bruce grinned.

"Inadvertently," Alfred replied. "Finished up the dishes and thought I'd join you outside, then saw you on one knee. Took a few pictures for you, thought you might like to add then to your growing gallery."

"Thank you," Bruce said sincerely. "I appreciate that. _We_ appreciate that."

Alfred then turned his eyes to Selina and smiled, "Might I say, Miss Kyle, that you are glowing even more than usual."

She rolled her eyes a little and groaned, "Oh _God_, my pod person transformation is complete."

"Speaking of that," Bruce said, "you should probably run next door and tell Molly." When Selina seemed unenthusiastic at that suggestion, he added, "There will be hell to pay if you don't tell her right away and you know it."

Selina grimaced and agreed, "Right. Consequences of having friends, once again."

Bruce gave her a kiss, one chaste enough to not make Alfred shift uncomfortably, and then Selina headed towards the door with a slight slouch. Bruce grinned at her, then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

After reading the text message, he looked up at Alfred and asked with a curious look, "Why is Blake texting me '_Did she say yes'_?"

"I took the liberty of sending a photo or two to Blake as well as Lucius. Didn't think you'd mind."

Bruce raised his eyebrows but didn't really have a problem with it. Then he glanced back at his phone and typed a reply. _Not only once but three times._

* * *

Selina stood on Molly's doorstep and waited after knocking, looking down at the ring on her finger and wondering how long it would take her to get used to seeing it there. This was surreal, without a doubt, and two words kept floating through her head, sounding the better the more she mulled them over. _Selina Wayne, Selina Wayne..._

The door opening snapped her out of her thoughts. Christian answered her knock, glass of Chardonnay in his hand, and he smiled widely. "Hello there, neighbor."

"Hey," she smiled, holding up her left hand to him.

He took one look at the rock and grinned before shouting over his shoulder, "Molly! Something urgent at the door that requires your immediate attention." Then he lowered his voice and asked, "How'd he do it?"

"On the beach, out of nowhere," she replied."

"Simple and spontaneous, I like it," he said, sipping his glass. "I told him to go that route, more or less."

Selina tilted her head, about to ask him exactly what kind of advice Bruce had apparently asked for from him, but then Molly's blonde head came bobbing into view.

"Can you be quiet, Chris, I just got Aidan to sleep," she half-whispered to her husband before seeing Selina. Her eyes brightened instantly and she squealed, "Selina! What brings you over -"

At the sight of Selina's left hand in the air, Molly's eyes grew huge and her jaw dropped. "He did it? Today? He proposed?! _Oh my God!_"

She then knocked Christian out of the way and grabbed Selina by her wrists and started half-squealing, half-shrieking, and Christian protested, "Hey, what happened to 'be quiet, don't wake the baby'?"

Molly held up a hand to silence Christian without soaring him a glance and continued to shriek. "Are you happy? How did he do it? Oh my God, just come in and sit down and tell me."

As Selina stepped into the house, being half-dragged by Molly, the sound of a baby boy wailing came wafting through the air, and Molly quickly barked, "You get him this time, Chris, I'm busy."

"Yes master," Christian scoffed, setting his glass aside as he strode towards Aidan's room.

Molly took Selina into her living room and hurriedly plopped her down on the couch, still grasping Selina's hands as she grinned widely and asked, "So how did he do it?"

"On the beach," Selina replied, smiling at her friend's always-bursting exuberance. "Spontaneously."

"Was it perfect? What did he say?"

Selina recounted the event as best as she could, grinning when Molly would hold her hands to her face or "ooh" and "aww" enthusiastically.

"Okay, so," Molly said when she had learned all the details, "let's talk about the wedding."

Selina's expression instantly changed and she said, "Oh, I don't know about... that. I mean, the amount of people we would actually invite to it is like... less than ten."

"That doesn't matter," Molly shrugged. "You can have a small, intimate ceremony and then just have a party after. What are you thinking, beach or church? Can I plan it? I'd love to plan it. Please?"

Selina chuckled, noting how right now, Molly was like a dog with a bone dangling in front of it, just waiting for permission to snatch it. "... Okay."

Molly clapped and squealed. "Yay! Okay, this is going to be awesome." Then, in one of her less subtle but still completely charming moments, Molly asked, "So, small ceremony, so just the best man and maid of honor? Just Blake, for Bruce, and then... whoever you pick."

Selina stayed silent for a moment, slight poker face on, while Molly gave her puppy dog eyes. Yeah, Molly didn't know how to do subtle.

After a moment Selina cracked and started laughing. "_Duh_ it's going to be you, Molly."

The blonde then reached her octave limit in her squealing, and clapped again before yanking Selina into a big hug. "_Yay!_ Thank you! This is going to be amazing!"

Selina patted the other woman's back as she pulled away, holding up a finger as she said, "It's not happening until after Thomas is born and after I'm back in shape. I'm not waddling down the aisle, or beach, or whatever. And I don't want to look like a beached whale in pictures."

"Okay. That's totally understandable." Then Molly's eyes widened and she gasped, "Oh my God. This means we get to have a bachelorette party!"

And so the conversation went, Molly raving on and on and Selina allowing her to, until Selina's phone buzzed with a text and distracted her.

Molly was debating what color she'd look best in for the wedding when Selina read Bruce's text. _Alfred's taking Helena for the night_.

She cleared her throat at the implications of that, and nodded politely at whatever Molly was saying as she started typing a reply. _Your idea?_

"So then maybe aqua... well, I don't know, I think maybe a violet-ish pink, but I know how you hate pink... what kind of flowers do you like?"

"Um..."

"You gotta have roses. Orchids are good too. There's a lot of really cool native flowers here too, rare ones, they're expensive but whatever..."

Selina's phone buzzed again. _His, actually. I didn't argue_.

She tapped her phone, continuing to pretend to hear a word Molly was saying. _I kinda feel like finally taking the doctor's advice tonight._

"... and oh my God. Helena as the flower girl. Holy crap. It's not gonna get any cuter than that, ever. Ooh, and Thomas can be the ring bearer!"

Buzz. _I feel like ripping off your clothes with my teeth_.

Selina half-blushed, suddenly feeling like a teenager, texting her lover like this. _Yeah, what else?_

"... and for the reception, you could do it at your house or rent a place on the mainland... why are you blushing?"

Selina jerked her eyes up then and grinned a little stupidly. "I'm not."

"Who's texting you?"

Molly then snatched the phone out of Selina's hands, surprisingly quick, and Selina protested, "Hey! I'm listening, give it back."

She heard her phone buzz and Molly slapped her hand away, reading the incoming text as Selina rolled her eyes.

"_Anything else you want, but I want to._.. sweet Jesus!" Molly squeaked, eyes wide and a smile on her dropped jaw. "You guys are _sexting_! On my couch! While me and you are talking!"

Selina snatched the phone back, scoffing, "We are _not_ sexting, sexting is like..."

Her eyes then fell on the screen and she read what he'd sent, seeing something he'd said about giving his mouth a workout and making her lose her voice. "... Okay, yeah, that's sexting."

"You _guys_," Molly sighed in mock-disapproval. "Oh, but let me tell you... post-proposal sex is hot. You've got a lot to look forward to."

Selina shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. "Well... it's not like we can get too crazy with this basketball in the way. Plus we've both been super freaked out ever since the scare."

"That must suck," Molly grimaced. "Because normally I would think you guys have, like... super hot, gung ho, don't-give-a-hell-about-the-outside-world animal sex. I mean, that's just my impression. You guys _did_ try to hook up in the bathroom at my wedding."

Selina grinned. She couldn't help it. "Actually... that's an accurate description, under normal circumstances."

"Didn't the doctor say everything was fine, though? Did she tell you guys to be... cautious?"

"No. She told me at my 20 week appointment that we were good to go, for lack of a better term."

"Then go for it!" Molly grinned. "I mean, you only get engaged once. Or, well, hopefully, but I'm pretty sure you guys won't be breaking up ever. So go for it. Lose some sleep tonight. Do you need some help figuring out what to say back?"

Selina chuckled, having been staring blankly at her phone while Molly was talking. "If he was standing in front of me I'd have no problem turning him into a puddle on the floor with one sentence but I've never... done this before over text."

"So just picture him standing in front of you - naked, if that helps - and whatever you'd say, just type it instead of speaking it."

Selina raised a thin brow. "You have experience with these things."

Molly flipped back her hair and grinned smugly as she said, "I like to torture Chris when I know he's sitting in a board room with a bunch of old men."

"That's cruel. I like it."

It took her a moment, but Selina eventually figured out what to say back. She felt a little ridiculous typing it at first, but if Bruce could do it with no qualms, then so the hell could she.

Her text was rewarded with one from him that stated simply, _Bedroom. Now._

She locked her phone and glanced up at Molly, a grin on her lips as she said, "Gotta go."

* * *

The house was quiet as she crept through it, leaving her shoes at the door and then making her way towards the room she shared with Bruce. She glanced down at her ring as she walked, still scarcely able to believe that she was really engaged as of an hour ago.

When she got to her room she found it completely dark. She stepped inside and reached out a hand to flip on the lamp near the entrance, only to have her wrist grabbed and her whole body pulled into a warm, larger one.

Her back was to his chest and he wasted no time in grazing her neck with his lips, breathing hotly on her skin as she chuckled lowly. "Taste for the dramatic," she noted.

"Taste for you," he murmured, pressing his lips fully on her skin then. He made a deep, breathy sound in the back of his throat as he sucked on her neck, and then pressed his hips into hers. She grinned at his already, and very obviously, aroused state.

"One little text does _that_?" she teased, turning her head to get closer to his. He grazed her lips with his but didn't kiss them.

"Do you have any idea what kind of power over me you have?"

His tone was almost desperate sounding. His hands were firm on her hips, his breathing heavy already, and her hand snaked up into his hair as she smirked and replied, "Well... you did get down on one knee for me, so... I have an idea."

"Want me to show you?"

"I -"

He cut her off by gently spinning her against the wall, her back to it as she finally faced him. But just as she nearly finally captured his lips, he was gone, down on his knees for the second time that day.

Her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness now, and there was just enough of a trickling of moonlight filtering into the room for her to see the faint outline of her fiancé - she almost giggled at the thought of the word - kneeling in front of her as he made good on his word and, incredibly, unbuttoned her shorts with his teeth and then dragged then down.

"Learn that in your ninja training?" she asked breathlessly, feeling his lips drag kisses along her lower stomach. Then she felt teeth again, just the faintest of a sharp sensation before he removed her panties the same way he had her shorts. She tried to tangle her hands in his hair but he grabbed them and shoved them against the wall. She forced her voice to work and added to her question. "Or is it just... practice?"

"You'll never know," he replied, his voice low and lusty as he lifted one of her legs and put it over his shoulder. He started at her knee and kissed down her inner thigh, inching closer with his tongue as he went, and this time he let her grab his hair as she started breathing harder in anticipation.

She closed her eyes when he stopped teasing her, and while his mouth worked on her she used the hand that wasn't almost pulling his hair out to try to fumble around for the light. She could hear his breaths and the little sounds he was making while he tasted her but she wanted to see his face as well.

Then one of his hands shot up and grabbed hers, and his voice vibrated hotly through her core, "Don't think so."

"Aw, why n -" she banged the back of her head against the wall and bit back a moan as his tongue did something _fantastic_ - "Why not?"

"Because I said so." Another vibrating jolt, and Selina tightened her leg over his shoulder and held on to him tight.

"Getting shy on me?" she managed to force out of her mouth, though there was a distinct strain behind the words.

He chuckled, and she gripped his hair tighter to keep from losing balance completely and tumbling down on top of him. She let out a moan without even realizing it, and he gripped her tighter, holding her in place as he started working harder to get her wanted her.

A string of fragmented words came tumbling out of her mouth, and through hooded eyes she watched what little she could see of him - mostly just the shape of his head, and his by now very mussed hair - but then closed her eyes and let the soundtrack of his breaths and groans propel her to her end.

He held her as still as he could as she shook and trembled against him, not stopping his efforts until she'd ridden every last wave til the end. Then he left one last soft, parting kiss before leaning his head back and taking in a deep breath of air as he lowered her leg off of his shoulder and back to the floor.

He lifted her shirt as he rose back up to his feet, lifting it over her head when their eyes met one another's in the darkness.

She had a hazy, happy look about her, but even in the darkness he couldn't hide certain things from her. "Your knees are hurting," she said, her voice lazy and sated-sounding.

"Don't worry about my knees," he murmured back as she started the process of undressing him. In reality, being on his knees for as long as he had been had left them in near-agony, regardless of the brace he still wore every day on the most damaged leg.

"I can't help but worry about them," she replied, pulling him against her once his shirt was off. Her hands trailed over familiar scars on his back as his breath ghosted over her cheek and she added, "I worry about your back too... your head..."

"How about you worry about a different part of me now," he suggested playfully, his hands brushing back her hair as hers moved down to the waistband of his thin pants.

He kissed under her ear and she got a whiff of his scent, noticing for the first time that he must have showered and changed while she'd been chatting with Molly. "How far are we taking this?"

She heard a click, and then thankfully, the lamp came to life, and she was finally able to look upon him. His hair was a wreck, but it only added to his maddening appeal as he replied, "Well... the doctor did clear us ten weeks ago."

"Yes she did," Selina replied, pushing down the fabric from his hips and watching it fall to the floor.

He stepped out of it as he said, "She said it would be perfectly safe."

"Mmm hmm," she murmured, latching on to his neck. He closed his eyes, exhaling sharply as she suckled and then brought a hand between them and grasped him with it.

"I -"

"Hmm?"

He tugged her hand away from him with a breathy chuckle and then said, "Seriously... I want an answer."

She broke away from him then, giving him a grin as she turned and walked towards the bed. "I'll let you decide."

"I said it was up to you."

She laid down gracefully on the bed then, long limbs against dark silky sheets, and replied, "I think I've made enough decisions today. I'll leave this one on you."

It was only a matter of seconds later when she felt the bed dip with new weight, and then he was hovering over her, mindful of her belly as he grinned down at her. "And how do you feel about those decisions you've made today?"

He punctuated his question with a kiss to the base of her throat, which became a series of scattered ones across her chest. "I feel... pretty good."

"Do you feel certain?" he asked, glancing up at her as his lips pressed against the swell of her breast.

"Actually, yes," she replied, running her hands through his hair. "Surprised?"

"No," he replied, looking up at her with a grin. "Surprised?"

She shook her head, mirroring his grin. "No."

He then brought his face level with hers again, and for the first time since she came home, kissed her lips. It was gentle and sweet at first, then became mutually deep and fervent as Selina crushed him to her with her hands, tasting him greedily.

His right hand laced with her left one, brushing the engagement ring as he tore his mouth away from hers to whisper in her ear, "I can't wait to call you my wife."

"Does fiancée cut it until then?"

He smiled down at her, taking a moment to kiss her again before murmuring, "It does... Mrs. Wayne."

Then he kissed her hard, and she couldn't ignore the jolt that went through her at the sound of those words on her lips. Since when was marriage such a turn on? She didn't know and didn't care, and she didn't have enough of her wits about her to dare wonder what a honeymoon would be like if this was just what engaged was like.

Still, she was able to taunt him a little bit as he kissed down her neck. "I'm not your Mrs. Wayne yet."

He raised his head then and gave her a look that seemed to ask _oh really_? "Turn on your side. Selina."

She continued to smirk but did as he said, turning as he fell into place behind her. His hands pulled her hips into place against his, then trailed up her side and over her breast as he said against her ear, "I'm starting to think you've always been my Mrs. Wayne."

Then one smooth thrust later, he was home, and any retort she may have had died on her tongue. It really had been a long time, and she'd missed this greatly, and by the sounds of relief escaping Bruce's throat, so had he.

She grasped his hair and strained her neck to kiss him as he built a rhythm, and she could feel him holding back, but that couldn't be helped; she merely matched his movements, rolling her hips against his, letting the friction build to a sweet and satisfying peak as he held her closely and lovingly in his arms. Maybe holding back wasn't always such a bad thing - or maybe he was that good that he could be straining to hold himself together and still make her see stars within a matter of moments.

The end was as sweet and satisfying as the beginning and middle, and afterward they lay together, eyes closed and limbs weakened in the most welcome of ways as they caught their breath. Selina only took a moment before she turned in his arms to face him, placing a kiss on his mouth as she settled in close to him.

He smiled at her lazily, bringing his fingers through her hair and kissing her back before taking her left hand in his right one once more. He then brought the hand to his lips and kissed it lightly, and rubbed his thumb over the diamond that rested beautifully on her ring finger.

"You know what's funny?" she mused, watching his eyes dance with contented happiness that she'd probably never tire of seeing. "I used to read about you in the tabloids. I'd hear girls talking about Bruce Wayne this and Bruce Wayne that, how they all wanted to marry you... and somehow I'm the one that got you. Out of all the non-criminal, perfectly nice girls you could have had... you ended up choosing me."

"You're not gonna sign the marriage license and then take off with everything I've got, are you?" he asked playfully, with a grin.

"No," she shook her head. "I'd wait until after the honeymoon."

He chuckled and pulled her closer, as close as he could with her big belly complicating things. "Better not let my guard down then."

"Never," she teased. "By the way, Molly's already claimed the role of wedding planner, even though I told her it'll be the smallest ceremony ever. And she's my maid of honor."

"Figured that," Bruce grinned. "I heard her squealing from all the way over here."

Selina smiled. "Yeah. And by the way, no wedding until I'm back in shape."

"Fair enough."

She then sighed and half-laughed, "I can't believe we're actually talking about a wedding."

"Just keep those feet of yours from getting cold on me," he said, making his point by rubbing his feet against hers.

"Hey," she retorted, "I'm nothing if not committed. I make a commitment, I stick to it. You know that."

"I know", he said softly, smiling. "Just making sure."

A brief, comfortable silence fell, where they continued their casual touches and felt themselves tiring for the night, just before Selina spoke up again. "You think I could wear a black dress instead of white?"

He chuckled. She _would_ ask that. "No, Selina."

**A/N: #2: I'm pretty sure that sound I hear is of Landscaper01 doing cartwheels everywhere :D I hope the long-anticipated proposal lived up to the extremely long buildup! I've had it planned with midnightwings96 for a long time, actually like all of it was her idea, so big huge hugs and thanks to her :) let me know what you guys think! I thank and love you all! :D**


	21. Chapter 21

It was to be a simple, pleasant day - lunch in the cafeteria with Bruce, Molly, Christian, and the accompanying babies, and then a routine checkup for Selina, who was 34 weeks along today. The sweltering heat of summer had given way to the slightly less sweltering heat of September, and all had been going exceptionally well on nearly all fronts - Selina felt great, Bruce was still elated from her acceptance of his proposal one month prior and that in turn kept Selina elated, and Helena had become a talking machine in recent weeks. It didn't mean that working while being hugely pregnant and taking care of a one and half year old was easy, but she was thriving and happy, and so was her family.

Selina's diamond ring sparkled prominently on her finger as she talked and chuckled her way through lunch, watching Molly try to get seven-month-old Aidan to eat some puréed carrots she'd brought in a little container in her bag. Molly had embraced the Internet in her son's early months, and had scared herself into an organic, all-natural diet and lifestyle that Selina thought she took to the extreme and beyond, but Molly swore by her new identity as a "crunchy mom" - whatever the hell that was. To Selina, it appeared to mean mostly that Molly carried containers of home-puréed vegetables in her purse, used nothing but plant-based cleaning products, and fed her family nothing that was artificial or genetically modified. She would listen to Molly's rants on the subject and would nod and consider her words as she handed Helena a handful of greasy fries, because sometimes Helena wanted fries, and well, that was that.

"Come on, Aidan," Molly half-whined, a spoonful of orange goo in her hand, but the green-eyed, blonde boy clamped his lips shut and turned his head away vehemently. Next to him, in her own high chair, was Helena, who was happily munching on some fried chicken nuggets that poor Aidan would probably never get to taste himself, gloating as she punctuated her chomps with a chorus of "nugget nugget nugget".

"He's not going to eat it, love," Christian said gently, eating a Molly-approved salad. "He's made it quite clear."

Molly sighed and shoved the spoon back into the container as Selina shifted just slightly in her seat next to Bruce. He noticed this and asked quietly, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Selina said dismissively, though it wasn't entirely true. It was nothing to be alarmed about, but she'd been having annoying "practice contractions", also called Braxton-Hicks contractions, since late last night. She'd had them with Helena too, so she didn't think anything of them, even as they continued to bug the crap out of her as the day went on.

"So," Molly said, recovering from her carrot-induced despair, "have you guys thought any more about a date?"

"No," Selina replied. "Not since you asked me yesterday."

Molly grinned and shrugged as she said, "Hey, as the wedding planner and MOH, it's my job to make sure this stuff gets figured out in a timely manner."

Selina smiled. "Well, like I said, we're just going to plan for next spring for right now. But I'm not the one who needs to get their crap together - Bruce hasn't even asked his best man to be in the wedding yet."

Molly turned wide, pointed blue eyes at Bruce, who quickly raised his hands innocently and said after swallowing a mouthful of sandwich, "I've called and left messages. He's busy. It's not my fault."

Selina gave him a subtle look, and he understood - it wasn't like Blake to not return his calls. The last time Bruce had spoken to him, Blake had told him about some problems he was having with some sort of copycat vigilante who was opting to leave criminals dead in alleyways rather than leaving them tied up for the police to arrest, and Bruce had been following the news in Gotham closely enough to understand why Blake wouldn't have time to chat on the phone. Still, it was a bit disconcerting.

"Well, keep bugging him, then!" Molly demanded. "These are things you have to get out of the way early."

Bruce smiled amicably at the blonde, while Selina sighed and took a drink of her water bottle as another contraction began. It was a painless sensation of tightening and then slowly relaxing, and normally they'd go away after she drank a good amount of liquid, but it hadn't helped today.

She glanced at Helena, who was eyeing Aidan as she drank a juice box, and the beauty of her distracted Selina from her momentary discomfort. Bruce had dressed her today, so she was in all pink, and he'd also attempted to fix her hair as well, which wasn't bad for how rarely he had done so before. Her shiny brown hair was up in a ponytail secured by a black bow, letting the cheeks she'd inherited from her father display fully. Her eyes were narrowed but still big and gorgeous as she kept one of them on Aidan, who she still had yet to warm up to completely. Mostly she stared at the baby boy as if to say _and who are you?_, even after all of these months, which left Selina hoping that she'd warm up to Thomas a bit quicker.

"Oh," Bruce said, giving Selina nudge and shaking her from her thoughts, "we better get upstairs. Your appointment's in four minutes."

His words coincided with the start of another contraction, and this time, it hurt just a little bit. She shrugged it off, grabbed her bag, waited for Bruce to grab Helena, and then headed to her doctor's office upstairs.

* * *

She definitely knew the routine by now - at every appointment, the first thing she did was go to the bathroom in the office and provide a urine sample that she'd then leave in a little window-drawer thing for one of the nurses to grab, and then she would enter the triage room and have her heart rate and blood pressure taken, along with being weighed. Then, she would see the doctor.

Bruce walked around with Helena in his arms as Selina sat down and watched the nurse pump up the blood pressure cuff on her upper right arm.

"How are we feeling today?" the nurse, a younger girl who was probably around Selina's age, asked before placing the round end of her stethoscope to Selina's forearm.

"Fine, besides some Braxton-Hicks contractions," Selina shrugged as the girl counted silently.

A moment later, the nurse furrowed her brows and then said, "Sorry, I must have counted wrong. Let me try again..."

Selina nodded and waited as the cuff tightened around her arm again, glancing up at Bruce as he kept kissing Helena's cheek and making her giggle each time. Selina smiled absently, then heard the nurse's voice say quietly, "I'm getting 160 over 103."

Selina snapped her head towards the nurse, furrowing her brows as she repeated, "160 over 103?"

"Yeah," the nurse confirmed, concern now etched on her face. "Let me try one more time on the other arm and see what I get."

Selina looked up again as the nurse went to work, and saw that Bruce was now staring at her with instant worry evident in his eyes. She took a breath and hoped it was a fluke, only to have the opposite confirmed as the nurse finished up for the third time. "161 over 105 that time."

The nurse then scribbled down the reading on Selina's chart, and Selina watched her do this for a moment before asking, "That's pretty bad."

"It's not uncommon," the girl replied, looking up and giving Selina a comforting look. "You said you were having contractions?"

"Yeah, but, not real ones, just the... Braxton-Hicks ones." Selina watched the nurse scribble some more on the chart, feeling anxiety bloom within her gut.

"Any nausea or vomiting?"

"No."

"Headaches?"

"No."

"Baby moving plenty?"

"Yes."

More scribbling, then the nurse smiled and got to her feet and motioned for Selina to do the same. "All right, I'll take you back now and the doctor will be in with you in just a moment."

Selina followed the nurse wordlessly, wondering how and why her blood pressure could be that high when it had been perfect at every other check. It was almost distracting enough for her not to notice the increasingly painful contractions that were still coming and going.

Selina settled down on the exam chair as Bruce sat in a chair to the side, placing Helena on his lap and staring at Selina in that concerned way of his that did nothing to help her suddenly fraying nerves.

Selina went though the motions of undressing from the waist down and draping a papery cover over herself, finally glancing back at Bruce when she was done. Helena had his cell phone in her hands, which was something he normally never let her touch, and Selina pursed her lips before muttering, "I -"

The door opened then, and Dr. Jones entered, ending the conversation before it could begin. "Hello, Miss Kyle," she said in her usual friendly tone, betraying no concern as she went to wash her hands in the sink. "I see your blood pressure's a bit high today."

"Yeah," Selina muttered, her belly tightening under another contraction. They were coming alarmingly fast now. "Kind of having some contractions, too."

"Braxton-Hicks?"

"I thought so," Selina said, feeling Bruce's worried eyes on her. "But they're starting to hurt."

"Okay," the doctor said calmly, approaching her. "Let's have a look."

She went about her usual examination, noting things as she went - Selina's feet were slightly swollen, and Selina didn't know what that meant, or if it meant anything. Then the doctor checked her blood pressure again herself, and it was the same as it had been before.

"Okay," Dr. Jones said after listening to her heart and lungs, "normally I wouldn't do a pelvic exam until you hit 36 weeks, but considering what you've told me about the contractions and such, I'm going to go ahead and do one now."

Selina nodded and swallowed as the doctor laid the chair back and pulled out the stirrups at the foot of it. "Baby moving around?"

Selina was getting asked that question enough to make her start worrying even more. "Yeah."

Selina drew in a breath as she waited for the exam to begin, folding her hands over the top of her belly and staring at her ring and deliberately not looking at Bruce. She knew exactly what kind of look he'd have on his face - the one where he would appear perfectly calm and fine to anyone else, but she knew him like the back of her hand by now and she'd be able to see the worry and anxiety behind his mask.

After a few uncomfortable, wince-inducing moments, the doctor straightened up and said softly, "You're completely effaced and a good three to four centimeters dilated."

Selina's eyes got huge at those words - _what the hell?_ "What? _How_?"

"I'm going to hook you up to a monitor for awhile and see what kind of contractions you're having. I also need to check your urinalysis."

"But - I'm only 34 weeks!" Selina said, exasperated and not caring. "Am I in labor?"

"Stay calm, Selina," Dr. Jones said gently, placing a dark hand on Selina's shoulder. "If you are, we'll stop it. I've got you, all right?"

Selina nodded, but as much as she loved her doctor and trusted her, she wasn't reassured. In fact, she now felt on the verge of some serious panic.

She fiddled with her fingers, staring at the door after the doctor hooked her belly up to a monitor. She still didn't want to look at Bruce, but then there was a hand on her arm and she looked up to find him at her side. Helena was sitting in the chair by herself, still playing on her father's phone.

Surprisingly, Bruce looked at ease as his fingers laced through hers. She knew it was an act, but it was an impressive one, and she did find it just a little bit comforting.

"This sucks," she muttered. "I don't understand."

"It'll be fine," Bruce assured her. "Good news is that we're here and not at home. We know what's going on."

"Yeah," she laughed hollowly. "At least there's that."

Then, sooner than she'd expected, Dr. Jones walked through the door again, clutching a piece of paper in her hand this time. "Got your urinalysis back. Your tests have all been fine up until now, but today it's showing protein in your urine."

Selina furrowed her brows and asked, "What's that mean?"

"Well, that and high blood pressure are the top two factors for preeclampsia."

"And what's that?" Selina asked a little desperately.

Dr. Jones took a seat on a stool next to the exam chair and explained, "It is a condition that can be extremely dangerous to both mother and child. It's nothing to trifle with."

"So how do we treat it?"

"The only treatment for preeclampsia is delivery," the doctor sighed. "However, we can manage it. Your contractions," she said, glancing at the monitor, "are regular and clearly working, judging by your cervix. You're in labor."

"But - it's too early. Could he even breathe on his own if I had him now?" Selina felt Bruce's fingers tighten a little bit around hers - he was still trying to be comforting.

"He would need help," the doctor admitted. "What I'm going to do is get you into a room and get you started on some medicine to stop the labor and also some to bring down your blood pressure. The good news is that we know what we're dealing with, and that makes treatment much easier."

Selina nodded, taken aback by how far out of left field this had come from. This pregnancy, after getting past it's initial, early scare, had been shockingly easy. She'd been able to actually enjoy it this time around, and Bruce's camera was full of pictures of Helena hugging her mama's big belly. It had all seemed like it was going to end in a storybook birth, whatever that was, and now _this_?

"So I'll send the nurse in to get you moved," the doctor said, "and in the meantime, do your best to stay calm. It's the best thing you can do until we get your pressure under control."

She nodded again, sighing at this series of highly unwelcome developments as the doctor left the room again. It was all _great_, just _great_ - nothing could ever be simple, could it?

* * *

Staying calm is impossible when you're stressing about having to stay calm for you and your unborn's child's sake. Selina lay in the small, uncomfortable hospital bed, staring at the television mounted on the opposite side of the room as Bruce spoke softly on his phone. He was talking to Alfred, and trying to make arrangements to have Helena picked up or at least watched in Bruce's office while they dealt with this latest complication. The child wasn't doing well seeing her mother lying in bed, hooked up to three different monitors and being prodded by nurses every five minutes - she was highly concerned, and would start wailing any time Selina was touched.

Selina's blood pressure was being taken once every ten minutes, and despite the medicine she was now receiving, it was still high. The contractions hadn't stopped or slowed down, either, and they were getting progressively more painful.

She had a bad feeling about it all. She hoped it was just anxiety talking, but she had that bone-deep chill that told her that this wasn't going to end particularly well.

She wondered if she'd done something to cause this, just as she had months ago during the first scare. Maybe she'd been working too much. Maybe she and Bruce shouldn't have given in and started having sex again. She had no clue how either of those things could have caused preeclampsia, but since she still had no real idea of what preeclampsia was, she figured she may as well err on the side of guilt and self-blame. It was nothing if not familiar.

She watched silently as Alfred came and got Helena, then closed her eyes as a whopper of a contraction took hold. She was having to breathe through them now - so much for that labor-stopping medicine.

Bruce was nearly as quiet as she was, sitting at her side as they both pretended to watch the TV. She wondered if he had the same dreadful gut feeling, but before she could ask, the doctor walked into the room.

"How are we feeling?"

Selina wanted to snap at the question, finding it idiotic. "Contractions are getting worse."

"I see that," the doctor said, looking at the roll of paper feeding slowly through the contraction monitor. "And your pressure's still high. Baby looks great, though. Great fetal heart rate. All right, I'm going to check you again."

A grimace and a lot of ceiling-staring from Selina later, the doctor sighed and said, "Five and a half centimeters. I'm going to go ahead and up your dose and be a bit more aggressive in getting this stopped..."

Just then, Selina's eyes widened and her whole body froze at the sensation of a sudden gush. Then wide eyes gave way to rolling ones as she groaned, "Fucking water just broke."

She covered her face with a hand as the doctor muttered something and started checking to verify, but Selina was already beyond certain. She looked up at Bruce, who continued to look deceptively calm and cool other than a pursed mouth, and in Selina's current slight madness, she halfway wanted to see him start panicking like she was inside. The doctor's poker face was impressive, too, and even if that was expected, why couldn't anyone else look like they were about to lose it, too?

"Full rupture," Dr. Jones sighed after checking her. "All right." She then turned off the labor-hindering medicine and said, "Plan B, then. Looks like your son's coming today, after all."

When Selina opened her mouth and looked like she was about to start screaming, Dr. Jones quickly added, "To be honest, Selina, I was only about an hour away from making this decision anyway. Your pressure isn't coming down, and the risk to you staying pregnant right now is higher than the risk to the baby being delivered today. Any higher with your blood pressure and you could stroke out. Now, as for the baby," she said, noticing how Bruce's eyes flashed at the words "stroke out", "he could need a lot of help to breathe. He could need intubation and ventilation, or if we're lucky he could just need a bit of oxygen. I've delivered babies at 34 weeks who went both ways. I'll have the NICU ready for him when he's delivered, and the team there will take fantastic care of him. Your fiancé's put a great team of people there and paid for the best in equipment. The baby will be in the best hands in the Bahamas."

Selina nodded, wincing as a contraction began. "I want an epidural."

Dr. Jones nodded. "Of course. I'll call anesthesia. I'll also give you the option now of an elective C-section. Longer and harder recovery, but faster delivery."

Selina paused but shook her head. "No. Not yet. Ask me again if he's not here in a few hours."

"Okay. I'll be back."

The doctor hadn't been out of the room for more than a second when Selina asked, "Where's Alfred and Helena?"

"My office," Bruce replied softly.

She stared in front of her, not really looking at anything, then closed her eyes as another contraction started. This one was the worst yet, bringing back sickening flashbacks of the agony of her first labor, and she suddenly felt completely and utterly unready for this. The worst part of it was, in her gut, she knew Thomas wasn't either.

She vaguely heard Bruce uttering soothing words to her and rubbing her arm with his hand, but she was too busy trying to shut down to really notice. It was all she could think to do, the only thing that she thought would keep her from panicking under the pressure of pain, the apparently looming risk of stroke, and the fear of the unknown.

Problem was, she couldn't flip her switch quite as efficiently as she used to.

* * *

Things happened quickly after that. She got her epidural, which Dr. Jones hoped would bring down her blood pressure some, and it did. But the relief was short lived - Selina's labor progressed rapidly, which was both a blessing and a curse, but it felt mostly like a curse when she started violently retching with every contraction.

In the midst of it all, Molly had come rushing into the room and taken vigil at Selina's other side, and Selina barely had enough wits about her to bother wondering why she was there. Bruce had texted the blonde when his efforts to help Selina along seemed to be falling flat, and he hoped that a friend who'd gone through labor before would be able to get through to her in ways that he couldn't.

It was the sound of an ominous beep from the machine monitoring both Thomas' heart rate and Selina's contractions that got the attention of all three people in the room, just as Selina was mid-contraction and dry heaving into a pink hospital bucket.

"What's that?" Selina demanded. "Molly, what's that?"

Molly glanced behind her, and Bruce and Selina both saw her face pale. "Oh, it's... it's fine."

"No it's not, I see your face," Selina snapped, trying not to gag as she spoke. "The fuck's going on?"

The doors opened then, and two nurses came rushing towards the monitors. Molly quickly moved out of the way as Selina felt herself begin to truly panic.

"Decel," one nurse muttered before uncoiling an oxygen mask from the wall and placing it over Selina's face. "Take a couple deep breaths for me, Selina."

"Bp 170 over 115," the other nurse said, while Molly pointedly avoided Bruce's wide eyes seeking out her own. There was no way she was telling either of them right now that she saw Thomas' heart rate drop from a healthy 150 to a mere 25.

Selina sucked in deep breaths of the pure oxygen, staring at the nurses as they continued to mutter to each other, and then Bruce spoke up for both of them. "What's going on?"

"Looks like baby's heart rate dropped a little bit with the last contraction," the younger of the two nurses explained kindly. "We put her on oxygen to help him out."

"And her blood pressure?"

Before either nurse could reply, Selina's eyes widened a little bit underneath the clear oxygen mask and she muttered, "I'm... I can't really see."

Another contraction hit, the blood pressure cuff on her arm tightened, Bruce and Molly both opened their mouths to ask Selina what the hell she meant, and one of the nurses asked, "Are you seeing spots?"

"Yeah," Selina muttered. "The hell's going on?"

"Bp 179 over 120," one nurse said in dismay.

"Another decel," the other nurse said.

Bruce got a look at the heart monitor this time, and felt his heart drop at the dismal number there. Selina saw the blood drain from his face and started smacking his arm, her frantic questions of what was happening falling on deaf ears until he saw the number slowly climb back up into the 140's with the end of the contraction.

"It's fine," he lied when he finally found his voice.

Then Dr. Jones burst into the room, eyes fixed on the monitors as she gave the nurses instructions that nobody else in the room understood. Then she moved to Selina's side and said, "Selina, the baby's in distress, and your blood pressure just hit 190 over 120. I'm taking you back for an emergency C-section now. Everything's going to be all right, okay?"

Instead of nodding, Selina then went into a full, deteriorating panic. Bruce watched in horror as she fell apart and caused her blood pressure to shoot up even higher, at which point the doctor grabbed another mask from a newly arrived nurse and placed it over Selina's face. A few seconds later, she was unconscious, and the room swarmed with a flood of more people.

He stood frozen in place as another doctor appeared and jammed a tube down Selina's throat, hooking her up to a ventilator, and then they were dragging her bed towards the door. This all happened in less than a minute, and he only found his feet again when he started automatically trailing the team of medical professionals out of the room and towards the operating room. The last thing he saw on the monitor before Selina was disconnected from it was Thomas' heart rate dropping down to a zero.

But before he'd followed them even halfway down the hall, one of the nurses stopped and turned to face him, stopping him in his tracks. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, you'll have to wait out here."

"I'm not waiting out here," he half-growled, towering over the short, middle-aged nurse.

"You don't have a choice," she snapped back as the OR door swung shut with Selina inside of it. "I'm very sorry, but -"

"I own this whole fucking hospital," Bruce shouted, his voice and it's slightly crazed tone sounding foreign to his own ears, "get the fuck out of my way -"

"I'll call security, Mr. Wayne, I don't give a damn who you are," the steely nurse replied, sidestepping his efforts to get around her.

He opened his mouth to unleash a new string of curses on the nurse and probably fire her as well, but then there were hands on his shoulders, and when he roughly shook them off, they grabbed him again, firmer this time. He jerked against the hands and cursed some more as he turned around to find Christian as his restrainer.

"Bruce, mate, calm down," the shorter man said, keeping his hands where they were despite Bruce's continuing but half-hearted attempts to shake him off. "Calm down."

"Get the hell off me," Bruce muttered, looking past Christian to Molly, who was farther down the hall, holding her own son and crying. The sight of tears on the blonde's face seemed to snap him out of his momentary rage, at least enough for Christian to grab Bruce's face and force him to look himself in the eye.

"Bruce. She's in good hands. They both are. Keep it together, mate."

Bruce nodded, and the other man dropped his hands after a couple more seconds. His eyes found Molly's again, and it was a mistake, because as soon as he saw the girl's tears again he felt the rage fall away and turn into something much, much worse.

He was powerless and helpless, like he had been at the turn of every tragedy he'd ever experienced in his life. This was the absolute worst feeling in the world, the most agonizing sense of fear that one could feel - knowing that who you loved most was a breath away from being ripped away from you, and that there wasn't a single thing in the world that you could do about it.

Fresh memories of numbers danced before his eyes, those of Selina's stroke-level blood pressure, and his son's heart rate as he'd watched it fall to zero, and his feet stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall. His chest was heaving with breaths that felt like fire being forced into his lungs, and a wild gleam lit his eyes as they filled with tears he didn't want to let fall.

His knees gave out slowly, and he slid down the wall until he was half-sitting, half-crouching, his face falling into his hands as Christian wordlessly sat beside him. Molly muttered something about finding Alfred and walked off, leaving the two men alone in silence.

Eventually Bruce half-raised his head and pressed a white-knuckled fist to his mouth, his eyes shut painfully tightly as he silently prayed harder than he perhaps ever had before in his life.

**A/N: yeah, so I'm just gonna start sticking these notes down here at the bottom from now on. I'm also now going to duck down and avoid the rotten tomatoes that I deserve for leaving everyone on a cliffhanger like this, but, what can I say. I'm evil. :p thanks to everyone as usual for your feedback and loyalty! And thank you to midnightwings96 for always being the bomb diggity! (Yup, I just said bomb diggity) *braces for tomatoes***


	22. Chapter 22

This time it felt different than it had ever felt before, being on the verge of something horrible that he couldn't stop, because this time Bruce had nobody to direct his anger at. There was no desperate criminal pointing a shaking gun at his parents, no Joker laughing gleefully as Rachel became a pile of ash or staring curiously, almost innocently, at Bruce as he stuck a knife in Selina's back. This time, the monster was just biology. Whatever happens inside of a woman's body that makes it go haywire just because it is pregnant. Something that can't be prevented or predicted, something that just _is_, and was threatening the lives of his fiancée and son just across the hall.

Christian stayed by his side, not saying a word for a long time as Bruce fretted and wondered what was happening inside of the operating room. The doctor and nurses had moved so quickly, had gotten Selina back there within sixty seconds. Even in his angry, terrified haze, he had to admire the speed and accuracy with which they moved and got Selina where she needed to be. He knew that in moments like that, those couple of seconds could make all of the difference between life and death.

Ten minutes had passed before Christian spoke. "Would you like to go sit in the waiting room? Bit more comfortable than here. Or I could get you something to drink."

Bruce shook his head wearily. He wasn't going to be moving from the hallway until a nurse or doctor came out to tell him that everything had gone well and that both Selina and Thomas were fine. "That's all right. Thanks."

Christian shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "No need to thank me. We all need a friend from time to time."

Bruce swallowed, feeling grateful that he did have a couple of friends in his life that he actually did trust. He may not be about to spill his secrets and life story to either Christian or Molly any time soon, but they made life a little better, and he had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time they offered support in a time of crisis.

When the OR door opened and the same nurse that Bruce had snapped at came through it, Bruce flew up to his feet and raced to meet her halfway. "What happened? Are they okay?"

She pulled off her surgical mask and said, "The section went well. The baby's about to be sent to the NICU for respiratory support, and that was to be expected. Selina's being closed up now."

Bruce felt a wave of relief wash over him, knowing that neither of them were dead like he'd been imagining during his long wait. "I saw his heart rate drop down to zero - and her blood pressure -"

"It's coming down now that she's delivered," the nurse assured him. "And he was in distress because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck two times, and it was cutting off his oxygen as he moved down the birth canal. If there had been any more of a delay, he may not have made it."

_Jesus_, Bruce thought, caught between horror and relief.

"He weighs five pounds, two ounces," the nurse added as a side note. "Came out screaming even with immature lungs."

"When can I see him?"

"They've got to stabilize him first. You'll have to ask the NICU team, but you're welcome to go down there and wait."

Bruce paused at that, and the nurse didn't need to know him particularly well to tell that he felt torn between who to wait for. "Mr. Wayne, go be with your son. It's going to take some time for them to close her up and then another hour or so before the anesthesia wears off. I'll come find you myself when she wakes up."

He nodded then, and paused before saying apologetically, "I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to -"

"Oh please," the nurse grinned, waving a hand and interrupting him. "If you _didn't_ do what you did, there'd be something wrong with you. So don't worry about it."

He nodded, finally able to breathe now that he knew the worst hadn't happened. He heard footsteps behind him and glanced to find Molly approaching with Alfred in tow, who was toting Helena as well. Bruce thanked the nurse one more time before turning to them and quickly assuring them, "They're both okay."

Molly handed Aidan off to Christian and then launched herself at Bruce with a tearful squeak, giving him a hug that he returned somewhat awkwardly as he smiled weakly at his daughter. When Molly peeled herself away, asking for more details as she sniffed back more tears, Bruce began telling them what the nurse had just told him as he took Helena from Alfred.

"Go to the NICU," Molly said as soon as Bruce finished. "We'll wait here and come get you when she starts coming around."

Bruce nodded, glancing at Christian as he told both of them, "Thank you both for being here. It means a lot."

Christian nodded. "No problem. Go."

Bruce then turned to Alfred and motioned for him to follow as Bruce headed down the hallway towards the the east side of the labor and delivery floor, where the NICU was stationed next to the regular nursery. Helena was looking around curiously as Bruce carried her, pointing at random things that got her attention as Alfred asked, "How are you holding up?"

"Much better now," Bruce replied. "But I'll feel a lot better once she's awake."

"All in time," Alfred replied as they walked the hallways.

"It all happened so fast, Alfred," Bruce muttered, a slightly far-away look in his eyes as he spoke. "When his heart rate started dropping her blood pressure started spiking. She said she couldn't see, that she had spots in her eyes... what if there's lasting damage? _Could_ there be lasting damage?"

"I'm afraid I'm not qualified to have an opinion on that," Alfred replied gently. "I can ask Leslie for you if you'd like."

"I just... I don't understand how things were fine one day and then now today, all of this happens."

"We should all be extremely grateful that she had a check up today," Alfred remarked. "Otherwise today may have ended much worse."

Bruce winced, hardly able to think about that alternative. He glanced up and saw the sign on the ceiling stating "Neonatal Intensive Care Unit", then stepped up to the nurse's station outside of it.

The NICU stayed locked and off limits to anyone unauthorized, and even though he could have burst through the doors and been perfectly within his rights to do so as owner, he decided to try to have some respect for protocol before resorting to such measures.

"Mr. Wayne," the nurse closest to him said in a slightly timid voice as she stood up from her computer behind the station. "Can I help you?"

"My son just got transferred here," Bruce explained. "I want to see him as soon as possible."

"Oh," the twenty-something girl half-stammered, "I'll find his doctor and check."

Bruce nodded as she walked off and disappeared behind the NICU doors, and he turned and faced Alfred tiredly. "You know they knocked her out to do the C-section. We both... neither of us got to see his birth."

Helena started wiggling in Bruce's arms to get down, but he held tight and ignored her slight whining. Alfred sighed and replied, "The important thing, now, is to focus on getting them both healthy."

Bruce nodded. "I know. It was just supposed to be so different."

"Mr. Wayne?" the nurse from before said, approaching Bruce from behind after emerging from the NICU. "I talked to his doctor and he said you can go back for a few minutes. You'll have to follow me and put on some scrub cover on your clothes and wash up first."

Bruce nodded, then quickly handed Helena to Alfred. She shook her head and refused to let go of her father at first, but Alfred gently pried her away and shushed her as Bruce followed the nurse. Alfred then turned and went off in search of a vending machine to get some candy to pacify Helena, while Bruce steeled himself to meet his son for the first time.

* * *

He was wearing a papery gown over his clothes, the kind surgeons wore, and had covers over his shoes of the same material as the nurse led him into the NICU. He walked past busy nurses and incubators containing tiny, vulnerable babies, and though he'd built this entire floor last year and handpicked every piece of equipment in here, he was unavoidably nervous and distinctly out of his element.

"Now like I said," the nurse said, "he's on a ventilator, and they've also got a little feeding tube in his nose to keep him hydrated and fed until we can wean him off the ventilator. He's on a few monitors, too. So just be prepared to see him hooked up to a lot of things, okay?"

Bruce nodded, continuing to brace himself as he followed the nurse around a corner to another row of incubators. One of them was flanked by a doctor and a nurse, and he instantly knew that was the one that Thomas must be in.

"Here he is," the nurse said, stopping and motioning to the incubator. Bruce stared at the little glass thing, his heart stalling at the sight of the tiny little baby inside of it.

Thomas was lying on his back, dressed only in a diaper and a hospital cap on his head. The ventilator's mouthpiece looked huge on his little face, and the rhythmic and rapid rising of his chest was clearly mechanical. His eyes were closed, arms out wide and flat around him.

"Mr. Wayne," the doctor, an older, kind looking white-haired man that Bruce had hired away from Whitestone a few months ago, said in a friendly and reassuring tone, "I'm sure you're anxious, so I'll get right to the point and give you a summary of what we've got going on here."

Bruce didn't take his eyes off his baby as the doctor went on. "His lungs are, as we expected, underdeveloped, so we intubated him right away. His vitals are strong and stable, which is great. Right now the priority is watching out for complications that can arise with a premature birth. Pneumonia, jaundice, etcetera. I'm also hoping to wean him off of the ventilator soon and switch to a CPAP machine, which is much less invasive and forces oxygen to the lungs. Also, then we can get him started on bottle feedings. We'll have to play that one by ear, but he's pretty strong, all things considered, so I'm cautiously optimistic."

"Is that from the cord?" Bruce choked out, his eyes falling on a slight discoloration around Thomas' neck.

"It is," the doctor confirmed. "Just some slight bruising. Not uncommon." He then paused and added, "I'll give you a minute alone."

"When will I be able to hold him?" Bruce asked as the doctor walked away.

"When he's off the ventilator."

Bruce nodded, then drew in a shaky breath as he found himself alone with his son. He couldn't stand the way he looked, how vulnerable and helpless he appeared to be.

The doctor hadn't said that Bruce couldn't touch Thomas using the incubator's built-in gloves, ones that stretched to the elbow and enabled doctors and nurses to handle the babies in a sterile fashion. Even if he had, Bruce probably wouldn't have listened.

He slipped his left hand into one of the gloves, into the side of the incubator, and inhaled slowly as he ran a finger over Thomas' outstretched, tiny arm. When it reached the baby's little palm, Thomas' hand reflexively gripped his father's finger.

He didn't care if it was just a normal infant reflex or not. Bruce leaned his forehead against the glass, feeling another wave of emotion break over him as he held his son's hand.

* * *

When he got all but kicked out of the NICU after far exceeding his alotted "few minutes", he found Molly waiting outside with Alfred and Helena. As soon as Molly saw him, she said, "I came to get you. She'll be waking up any minute now."

Bruce nodded, wiping the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand before turning to Alfred. "Would you mind taking Helena home? I know she's sick of being here, and I don't want her to see Selina until she's better. She's very... sensitive about her."

"Not a problem," Alfred said. "I was about to suggest the same thing myself."

"Thanks," Bruce said before hugging and kissing his daughter goodbye.

"How's Thomas?" Molly asked.

"He's okay," Bruce nodded. "I think he's going to be all right."

"Of course he is," Alfred smiled. "If you'd like, I can bring Helena up tomorrow and some fresh clothes as well."

Together, the three of them began walking down the hallway. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Alfred."

"Indeed."

* * *

She wasn't dreaming, exactly, but she knew she wasn't fully conscious either. She felt heavy everywhere and yet weightless at the same time, strangely claustrophobic and trapped, and she couldn't open her eyes to look around her.

She didn't know where she was, what was happening, or why. She couldn't move or think clearly. What day was it? Where was she supposed to be right now?

She tried to speak but couldn't open her mouth to find her voice. The sense of dread and fear began as a small, nagging seed in her gut, but as the moments dragged on, it bloomed into something that felt like a looming, horrible, dark wave over her head.

She didn't know what she was afraid of, or why she suddenly felt like she was caged at someone's mercy, but inside she was cowering and curling into herself. She felt like a child again, helpless and lost, scared, and confused.

Vaguely, in the midst of the sickening swell around her, she heard a voice. It sounded worlds away, but she knew it. She couldn't place it with a face or name, but she knew it.

Slowly, the voice got louder. It was softly calling her name, pulling her away from the dark corner of nothingness that she was stuck in.

More sounds accompanied the voice as it got more and more clear. Beeps, footsteps, mechanical groans. The fear and the dread was fading, and she thought she might be able to open her eyes now.

She gave it a try. A blinding light greeted her, and she blinked a few times, trying to focus but failing.

"_Selina_."

_She knew that voice_. She opened her eyes again and found the face that the voice belonged to, focused on hazel eyes that had pulled her out of darkness before and surely would again.

Then she remembered. She remembered everything in a great, overwhelming rush.

"Thomas," she croaked, the single word causing a great amount of pain in her throat - why was it so sore? Come to think of it, maybe she didn't remember everything. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He's fine," Bruce assured her, one of his hands on hers and the other running soothingly in her hair. "He's in the NICU, but he's okay. Just needs some help breathing."

"What happened?" she asked, grasping for the last thing she could remember. "What..."

She lost her voice at a wave of pain that shot through her, stemming from her belly and spreading up her torso. Luckily, it seemed that Bruce could read her expressions quite fluently, because soon there was a nurse at her side, injecting the clear contents of a syringe into her IV.

It took a moment or two, but the pain then began to subside, and she could breathe again. _What the hell?_

"You had an emergency C-section," Bruce explained. "They said you'd be in a lot of pain near your incision when you woke up."

She sighed and tried to sit up a little bit in the bed, but her legs were still partially numb from the epidural, and her head was pounding. "Did I almost die or something?"

She searched Bruce's eyes before he answered her. She could see the emotion there, see that he'd been through the proverbial wringer today. The last time she'd seen that look in his eyes, she'd been bleeding from a stab wound in her back. Finally he answered, "You were on the verge of a stroke. And Thomas... the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and cutting off his oxygen. That's why they had to move so fast and put you under. But he's okay. And so are you."

She opened her mouth to answer, but then the same nurse who'd given her the shot of morphine (which was really working now) appeared again and started ratting off questions to Selina while checking her vitals. Selina answered as coherently as she could, taking note when the nurse announced her blood pressure to be 142 over 95. Still high, but not horribly so - she'd take that.

When the nurse left, Selina asked Bruce the next question on her mind. "Where's Helena?"

"Alfred took her home," Bruce replied. "Molly and Christian are still here. Molly won't leave until she sees you awake and alive."

Selina laughed hollowly at that. Her throat felt like hell still, but now she realized that it must be because there had been a tube down it. "Have you seen him?"

Bruce nodded. "He's five pounds, two ounces. Tiny little thing. But he's strong."

"What's he look like?" she asked weakly. How unfair that she had to ask this, that he wasn't in her arms negating the need to do anything but look at him to find her answer.

"He's... well, he never opened his eyes while I was with him. But I pulled back his hat a little bit and he's got some dark hair. Not a lot like Helena had, but a little bit. And I kind of hope I'm wrong, but I think he's got my nose."

"There's nothing wrong with your nose," Selina replied, getting more and more irritated with the situation as time went on. "You didn't see his eyes?"

Bruce shook his head. "They kicked me out before he could wake up at all."

"He's on a breathing machine?" she asked, her voice sounding horribly feeble to her ears.

"Yeah. The doctor said he's going to get him off of it as soon as he can."

She sighed, pressing dry lips together and closing her eyes for a moment. The morphine had helped the pain but the more Bruce spoke about their son, the more she felt utterly empty. Physically empty. Her womb was still enlarged, still looking somewhat as it had this morning, but her son was not inside of it, and she didn't even have a memory of him being taken from it. He was out of her reach, alone in some incubator, and his parents didn't even know what color his eyes were.

"When can I see him?" Selina asked, her voice steadier now as she became angrier.

"I don't know. I can ask, but -"

"Ask," she interrupted.

Bruce paused and then nodded. She looked at him and suddenly felt as if she wasn't acting the right way towards him, like maybe she should be more comforting and draw him near to her, since she could only imagine how he'd fretted over her while she'd been in surgery. But for the first time in perhaps their entire relationship, she felt too empty to give him anything.

But that didn't mean that she wouldn't do it anyway. She clasped her hand around his and tugged lightly, and he moved closer to her, his eyes intent on hers. He spoke first. "I was terrified."

"I'm fine," she lied, reassuringly. "I'm too young to have a stroke, anyway."

He half-snorted and bent his head down to kiss her hand. She gave him a small smile that she knew didn't reach her eyes, and it may have looked more like a grimace than a smile, but it was the best she could muster.

"I'll go ask," Bruce said, getting to his feet. "Mind if I send Molly in now? She's been waiting a long time."

Selina shrugged. "That's fine."

She watched him walk away, her mind flickering back to that odd half-awake, half-dreaming couple of moments she'd had before she awakened fully. With the memory came the sensation again of looming darkness, as well anxiety without anything to attribute it to, and it took a bobbing blonde head coming into view for her to snap out of it.

* * *

Selina didn't get to meet her son until three hours after his birth, and even that took a bit of strong-arming of the staff on Bruce's part. But eventually, after Molly and Christian had finally gone home with their baby and Selina had gotten sufficiently doped up on more pain meds, Bruce walked alongside Selina's nurse as she wheeled her towards the NICU

She was dead silent when they entered the nursery, and dead silent as they made their way back to where Thomas' incubator was. She maintained her silence as she laid eyes on her son for the first time.

She looked at his face, so small and some of it hidden due to the ventilator, and stared silently. She looked at his closed eyes, the nose that she agreed looked like Bruce's, and then at cheeks that would have been fat if he hadn't been born six weeks early.

The rest of him was so small, so much thinner than Helena had been - not unhealthy looking, but just not ready to be earthside quite yet. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, silently taking Bruce's suggestion to place her hand in the plastic glove-things and touch him. She touched his cheek first, then his arm, though she didn't want to disturb him too much.

She apparently did, however, because he stirred a little bit at her touch. They both then watched as he opened his little eyes, just enough to for Selina to see her own deep brown color reflecting in his own.

Then his eyes closed again, and she withdrew her hand from the incubator. She felt Bruce's hand on her shoulder as he murmured in her ear, "Beautiful, isn't he?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

They barely had a chance to absorb the moment before Selina's nurse reappeared and said it was time to get her back to her room. Selina didn't argue, staring down at her hands in her lap as the nurse wheeled her away.

Bruce was exhausted and Selina was almost grateful for it, because otherwise she knew he would have been studying her and trying to figure out why she wasn't reacting in the way she'd expected herself to.

The truth was, she was relieved to see Thomas out and somewhat healthy. It was jarring and difficult to see him on a ventilator but he was alive, his vital signs were strong, and he would be okay in time. But she didn't feel what she felt when Helena was born. In fact, she felt so _little_ that as she was wheeled back to her room, she felt herself dissolving into panic inside.

Her mind was quick to assure herself that these circumstances were unique, the birth had been traumatic, and that it was surely understandable to not experience an explosion of unicorns and rainbows at the first sight of your child when you hadn't even been awake when he was born. Surely it was normal when the birth you'd wanted had been robbed by a pregnancy-induced disease within the virtual blink of an eye. _Surely_ it was normal.

But she didn't think it was normal. And as Bruce and her nurse helped her back into bed in her room, and she looked up into Bruce's eyes and saw them alight with the love of a new father who was in love with his little boy, her heart sunk. Because she knew the same look wasn't in her own eyes.

Besides relief, pain, and fear, she felt nothing.

**A/N: ... Dat angst. Sorry about the shorter chapters here, for whatever reason that's how they're turning out as of late after that huge 20th chapter lol. Thank you everyone who reviewed, or read without reviewing, I love you all and apologize profusely for the cliffhanger I left you dangling on last chapter! Although I did enjoy everyone freaking out... I'm evil that way and I have no shame in admitting it :p **


	23. Chapter 23

After only two days of being on the ventilator, Thomas was downgraded to the assistance of a CPAP machine. After four days, his feeding tube was removed, and Selina found out this fact by being wheeled into the NICU to see him and finding him in the arms of a nurse, drinking a bottle of formula.

This enraged her for several reasons - first, because her son's first feeding had been stolen from her, and second, because she'd been vigilantly pumping her newly arrived milk and storing it for when he was strong enough to bottle feed, and yet there he was, drinking formula instead. It was excruciating to pump, nearly impossible to withstand the soreness and pain of her over-full breasts, especially when it was compounded by the pain she was already in from recovery. But she'd been able to push through it by clinging to the idea of providing him with the healthiest start that she could, and of feeding him for the first time when he was ready. But that, like the birth she'd wanted, had been taken from her.

She didn't have to say a word to Bruce for him to know that she was one breath away from cussing out the nurse and probably making her cry, so he quickly moved from behind her wheelchair and approached the young nurse before Selina could explode. He whispered something to her and then quickly took Thomas from her arms, and the nurse scuttled away with her head partially down.

"I'm sorry," Bruce said, turning to Selina when they were alone. "The whole staff had explicit instructions, I don't know why -"

Selina held up a hand, fighting an overwhelming urge to cry and cursing the still-fluctuating hormones making this feel like a monumental disaster rather than an admittedly highly angering fluke. "It's fine."

Bruce turned his eyes down to Thomas, so little and tiny in his arms - they'd held him for the first time yesterday, but only for a few moments each. He was still very small and delicate, and was also a bright shade of orange now thanks to the slightly expected onset of jaundice. It was a relatively simple condition, treated by placing him under special lights that would break up the overabundance of bilirubin in his blood until his liver could catch up to filter it for him. But it served as another reminder to how vulnerable he really was.

"Here," Bruce said, gently holding out his arms to Selina's. He placed their son into her arms and then took a seat on a stool and scooted it next to them before handing Selina the offending bottle of formula.

She eyed the thing with disdain but took it anyway. Helena hadn't gotten a single drop of the stuff in her infancy, but of course, things had been completely different then. Selina put the nipple of the bottle to Thomas' tiny little mouth, and he opened up for her to gently place it up near the roof of his mouth.

He sucked at it a little bit, and her breasts began to ache terribly. It was instinctual but she couldn't do anything about it - per the doctor's orders, everything the baby consumed had to be measured, carefully given and then logged, and her breasts didn't come with measuring lines. A part of her wanted to say screw it and try to nurse him anyway, but she controlled herself.

Thomas only sucked at the bottle for a moment, then began squirming and crying. She handed Bruce the bottle and tried to hold him close and console him, but he only cried more.

When he cried, it was a pathetic sounding little noise - heart wrenching to hear, even if the reason for it was clear, but in this case it wasn't. Eventually Selina gave up and handed the baby to Bruce.

Thomas didn't quiet down for Bruce, either, and after a bit a nurse appeared and said it was time to place Thomas back under the therapeutic lights. He nodded and let the nurse take him, and he and Selina didn't leave until the boy was safe under the lights and had stopped crying.

Selina leaned her head on her hand as Bruce wheeled her back towards her room, feeling as empty and anxious as she did days ago. Her incision still hurt like hell and so did the rest of her, but she'd forgone pain meds to for the sake of her milk being safe for Thomas. She couldn't sleep, even though sleeping was all she wanted to do nearly all day every day, and when she would lay eyes on Thomas, she would try with all of her might to feel something, anything like she did with Helena, but she came up short every time.

She didn't think Bruce knew. She made sure to fake it when he was watching her, all while wondering why in the world she was having to fake anything at all in the first place.

When they got back to her room, Bruce went through the methodical steps of helping her take a shower. Selina despised the fact that she needed help but she didn't have a choice in the matter, and Bruce knew enough to keep silent and get it over with quickly. He even kept silent when he noticed her pump-damaged breasts - the pump hadn't been kind to her, and the several cuts and generally mangled state of her flesh was evidence of that.

Afterwards, when she was swathed in a fluffy bathrobe that Alfred had brought to the hospital a few days ago, along with numerous other items, Bruce helped her climb back into bed and climbed in after her. It wasn't an easy fit but he'd been making it work.

His arm was around her, holding her close to his side as she lay her head on his chest when he spoke. "I think they're letting you go home tomorrow."

Selina said nothing to these words. A part of her felt relieved, and like she'd be escaping this weird new reality to he happy at home with Helena, but that brought another wave of guilt. She was supposed to want to be close to her new son as much as possible, to watch over him and care for him until he was stronger. But nothing she did even felt like actual caretaking. Most of the time she felt clueless and like Thomas would be far better off in the hands of the nurses, who knew what they were doing. She'd been looking forward to his first feeding, hoping it would be a bonding experience like the one she desperately needed and craved, but then she'd lost that chance just an hour ago.

"I talked to the pediatrician, and I don't think Thomas will be in here much longer either. Maybe a week at most."

Selina half-heard his words. She'd tried several times in the last few days to imagine life at home with Helena and Thomas both, and every time it overwhelmed her to the point of panic. Then if she tried to picture balancing them with work, a wave of tears would manifest behind her eyes, and she'd have to fight hard to force them not to fall.

"Selina?"

"Hmm?" she quickly replied, snapping out of her dark thoughts.

"You okay?"

She plastered a small, non-overcompensating smile on her face and nodded, then burrowed deeper into his arms. "I'm fine. Just tired and sick of being in pain."

"Try to take a nap," he said gently, his fingers in her wet hair. "I'll tell the nurses to leave you alone for awhile."

She nodded and closed her eyes, barely feeling the kiss he dropped on her forehead. She knew she wouldn't sleep, but the sound of Bruce's heartbeat underneath her ear was enough to keep the anxiety and irrational thoughts away for at least a few terribly brief moments.

* * *

The day went as the others had - Alfred brought Helena up to the hospital for a few hours, Molly dropped in with home-baked goodies that she all but shoved in both Bruce and Selina's faces, and Selina dutifully went to the NICU every one and a half to two hours to feed Thomas. She thought that staying busy and being surrounded by people who loved her would help keep her level-headed, but it was having the opposite effect - the suffocating, closed-in sensation from her post-surgery dream was creeping up on her once again.

But when everyone but Bruce had gone, and the halls of the hospital grew quieter with the approach of the night, she found herself pushed even closer to the edge with just a few words spoken by one of Thomas' nurses.

She was in the NICU, in the usual wheelchair that Bruce still insisted she use, and she could have laughed if she hadn't been so confused. "What do you mean he can't keep my milk down?"

The nurse shrugged and said kindly, "It happens sometimes. His gut is underdeveloped and very sensitive, and it could be an allergy or just an intolerance to it."

"But he can drink overprocessed crap from a prepackaged bottle," Selina muttered. "I don't understand."

"Well, I would keep pumping if I were you, and build up a good supply. Then try again later, once he's a little older and maybe able to handle it better."

Selina didn't know where her sudden anti-formula sentiments were coming from, but mostly she couldn't understand why something that was supposed to be biologically tailor-made to meet Thomas' needs was somehow inferior to something made in a factory.

Her body was seemingly becoming the enemy, betraying her during pregnancy and nearly killing both her and Thomas, and now it was just as useless.

She let Bruce feed Thomas that time, from a bottle of formula that she now despised, and she counted the moments until she could go back to bed. Then she chastised herself silently and brutally for it.

When she did get back to her room, she eyed the breast pump sitting next to her bed and resolved in that moment to be done with pumping for her own mental and physical health. There was no point in bothering if Thomas was going to be on formula no matter what, and she'd had quite her fill of cracked and bleeding nipples in the last four days, anyway. Just another aspect of pregnancy and post-birth that was strikingly different from the first time around with Helena.

She was back in bed, stonily watching the television when Bruce walked out of the bathroom and quietly made his way to her. He sat down at her side, on the bed, giving her a small smile as he took her hand in his. "You alright?"

"Fine," she muttered, tiring of the question. She was asked it so many times every day by so many people that the words now grated on her nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

"You know that the milk thing isn't your fault," he said softly. "You've done everything perfect. But I also don't think it's necessarily the worst thing in the world to keep him on formula."

Selina eyed him narrowly, and he explained, "It's not worth it if it makes you miserable and causes -" he motioned to her chest with his hand - "that."

"I'm not miserable."

"Maybe not, but you hated every second of pumping. And kids grow up on formula every day - it's nothing to he angry about."

She had a thousand retorts, most of them snappy and some that made no actual sense, but she bit her tongue. Clearly he didn't get that she just wanted one thing - just one - to be as it had been with Helena. One aspect of her relationship with Thomas that would help her bond with him, something to fall back on. He didn't get it because he'd had his moment with Thomas. She had not.

"Can you call the nurse in?" Selina asked, her voice still a mere mutter. Bruce nodded and slid off of the bed.

If she wasn't going to nurse or pump any longer, there was no point in not taking medication, and tonight, all she wanted was a big fat sleeping pill.

* * *

_The night was cool, but not cold. It was quite late, and the wind felt like pure freedom as it swept through her hair and whipped past her cheek as she jumped another rooftop. The thrill of the chase never got old, nor the even more intoxicating thrill of success - how could it?_

_She wondered why anyone would do street drugs when they could do this instead. Adrenaline was in a class all it's own, the single most addicting thing she'd ever tasted, and she couldn't imagine a life without it. Where would be the fun in that?_

_Underneath her serrated heels lay Gotham and all of it's filth, wealth, and grime, but on a clear and starry night like tonight, it looked almost beautiful. She flitted about the city's roofs like her own personal playground, in her element and in control, wearing a slight smirk on her deep red lips. She had a lot to smirk about, but this one belonged to the night, and the diamonds that were safely stashed in her belt._

_Her suit fit her like a second skin, and in a way, it really was her second skin. She belonged to this, whether she liked it or not, and there was such freedom in that knowledge that she couldn't resent it._

_The rush of a safe as it opened under her hand, the feel of diamonds and gold on her skin, the rush of cool night air after a heist - it was what she lived for, craved, and was damn good at. Sure, she'd started doing this because she had to, but what was so bad about that? It had gotten her here, made her the best damn thief Gotham had seen in decades, and she could think of many worse fates than that._

_Freedom had a price. And in this case, she'd pay it gladly._

_She jumped off the roof, knowing she'd land on her feet, and closed her eyes as the darkness rushed seductively over her, molding her, allying itself to her as surely as she did to it..._

Selina awoke with a start, eyes going wide as she sat up in her hospital bed with the sudden and sickening urge to throw up everywhere. She was shivering, bone-chillingly cold, gasping for air, and horribly confused.

Unable to control herself, she threw her head over the bed's railing and vomited on the floor. The sound of her retching woke up Bruce, who had been asleep on a pull-out bed on the other side of the room, and within seconds he was at her side.

She vaguely heard his voice, registered that he was calling her name and that his hand was on her back, but the sudden onslaught of misery and sickness was too bewildering to pay much attention to anything else. She raised her head only to toss it forward again and grace the floor with more vomit, and then the bright lights came on the room and she heard feminine voices getting close to her.

"She's burning up," she heard Bruce tell one of the nurses, just as her gag reflex took a break and allowed her to slump back against the bed.

One nurse took her blood pressure while the other took her temperature. "103," the second nurse said, a bit of surprise coloring her tone.

"God, what _now_?" Selina asked dejectedly, glancing up at Bruce and hating the concern etched in his features. He'd looked like this so much lately and didn't deserve it.

The nurses were quick to examine her, looking at her incision and finding no signs of infection there. "This is pretty sudden," the older of the two said. "Tell you what... Selina, do you hurt anywhere?"

She started to shrug, and the motion sent a blinding hot pain through her right breast. She winced and brought a hand to it reflexively, and that contact alone made it scream in pain. It also felt like it was on fire. "The fu-"

"Looks like mastitis," the older nurse said, taking matters into her own hands and pushing Selina's gown aside to examine it herself. It was an angry, unnatural red and as hard as a rock.

"What's that?"

"Breast infection," the nurse explained. "Comes on fast, too. I'll page the doctor and see what kind of antibiotics she wants you on, and get something to bring down the fever in the meantime."

Selina grimaced and dropped her head back, clutching the covers up to her neck as she continued to shiver to the point of tooth-chattering. Bruce stood at her side, helpless and quite as sick as Selina was of the seemingly never-ending barrage of bad luck. It seemed to be one thing after another, and Bruce was reaching the limit of his ability to stay calm while Selina's body attacked itself over and and over.

Selina closed her eyes tightly as she shook under the covers, ignoring the clanking sounds of a nurse's aid who came in to clean up the mess on the floor. All she could think of, beyond how horrible she suddenly felt, was the dream she'd awoken from and how ashamed she was that she'd had it.

* * *

Mastitis, as it turned out, was as easily and quickly rid of as it was gained. Just hours after receiving antibiotics, Selina started to feel better and not as if she were standing on death's door. But less physical pain left her with only her thoughts to keep her company, especially when Bruce left her room in the morning to get them breakfast from somewhere besides the hospital cafeteria.

The dream, and it's implications, haunted her as she lay in bed, wide and bleary eyed, still clutching the covers close to her chest. She hadn't had a dream like that since a time so long ago that she lacked a memory of one like it at all. She'd had no reasons to dream longingly of her days as a rooftop-jumping cat burglar, or to dream of the freedom she'd once felt during that time in her life. The adrenaline, the thrill, the fearlessness - what was any of that when she finally had love and a family, and was happy?

Yet, when she'd awoken, there had been such a startling sense of loss and yearning that had lingered just before she'd started throwing up. It was bewildering and unnerving but she'd felt it as clear as anything. So where did that leave her now?

Guilt was an old friend, regret an even older one, but the former was much more dominant than the latter as Selina felt the tears inching closer again. Her list of things to feel guilty about was getting longer and longer, full of old reasons and a good amount of new ones.

Her gut twisted at the thought of seeing her son for his morning feeding. The pain and hurt of feeling nothing when she held him, the agony of trying so hard to feel something but yet not, and the strain of giving an Oscar-worthy performance to fool everyone around her in the process. Then there was the added guilt of dreaming sweetly of how life used to be, and all of the questions that it brought forth in her mind.

Something was wrong with her, and she knew it. She was off-balance, strange feeling, and had been since she'd woken up to an empty womb. But _why_?

Her fingers clutched the covers tighter, and her eyes closed as her thoughts continued to run rampant. Maybe it had been a mistake to have a second child. Maybe she really _wasn't_ cut out for all of this, despite what Bruce had always said and despite what she'd started to believe for awhile.

Her engagement ring suddenly felt unbearably heavy, even accusatory somehow. She wasn't worthy of it, or of Bruce at all, not if this was who she was going to be. But what could she do? She couldn't choose what she dreamed, and she was terrifyingly incapable of stemming the anxiety that plagued her insides, nor could she forge a bond with Thomas out of thin air. What was she supposed to do?

She'd once been the master of her emotions, always able to control them, ignore them, bury them if need be, do what was necessary to complete the task at hand. But now she was at a loss to know how she ever did it - what had happened to her? Was this the consequence of loving someone, of carrying two children and leaving her old life behind to be Bruce's future wife and mother of his children? Had she lost all of her control, given it away to him and became vulnerable to the sort of pain and hurt that she felt growing steadily inside the last few days?

Now that she was alone, she couldn't hold back the tears. She let them fall, and fall they did, with a fury that shocked her. Her insides coiled and sprung with each heave of her breath, each sob that she couldn't hold back any longer, and it was _horrible_. It served as no relief to cry, no release, no purpose. Tears merely begot more tears, and her shame grew with each one that hit her pillow.

When her instinct began to whisper that Bruce would be back soon, she quickly wiped her eyes and sat up to flip her pillow over, tear-moistened side down, and she dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom. Whatever this was, she wouldn't dare burden Bruce with it. Not when he'd barely gotten through this week himself and had seen enough sadness and misery for many lifetimes. No, this was her cross to bear, and she'd bear it alone.

She washed her face quickly, and when she looked up into the mirror, patting her face dry with a cheap hospital towel, she thought she was staring a stranger. Puffy eyes, cheeks that were a little too full from the weight gained during pregnancy, and hair that was limp and tangled. But it was the eyes that were the most vexing - they were just wrong.

Before she could figure out why they were so off, she heard her door open outside of the bathroom, and Bruce's voice wafted inside. She drew a breath and shifted into acting mode, then grabbed the door handle and twisted it open.

This was her problem, nobody else's. She'd figure it out on her own, whatever it was.

* * *

"All right... I think we've got everything... oops, about to forget your bathroom stuff," Molly mumbled as she flitted about Selina's hospital room, on the morning of her discharge. Selina sat on the edge of the bed, dressed in loose fitting, casual clothes from home, her hair thrown up in a pony, and her face pale after the ordeals she'd been through in the last week. The mastitis was being held at bay but she still felt like crap from the infection, and sleep still refused to come easy.

Molly emerged from the bathroom with Selina's hairbrush and various toiletries, and smiled brightly as she went to stuff them into her bag. "Happy to be going home?"

Selina opened her mouth but ended up making the most non-committal of half-shrugs. Molly then quickly amended, "Well, I mean, I know it sucks to be leaving without your baby. But he's doing good, right? Shouldn't be much longer."

"Yeah, he's doing better."

"I can't wait until he's better, and a little older, and the babies can all play together... when Kylie's around it'll be even, two boys against two girls," Molly grinned. When Selina only smiled a bit weakly in reply, Molly asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just tired," Selina said. "Still kinda gross from the mastitis, too."

"I can't believe you got that, in the middle of everything that was already going on," Molly said, shaking her head. "I mean, this week has been hell for you, and I'm sure that was just the cherry on top. Like, if I were you, I would be freaking out... and I'm going to shut up now and keep packing because I'm obviously not helping."

Selina shrugged. "Yeah, it's been pretty crappy."

Molly pursed her lips as she zipped up Selina's bag, noting the vacant look in the older woman's eyes. She didn't think a lot of it, since Selina's current state was nothing if not completely understandable. But what happened next gave her pause.

Bruce walked in the room, pushing the dreaded wheelchair in with him, and Selina's expression changed instantly. She gave him a tight smile and settled her features into a bland, pleasant, perfectly insincere mask. Even her voice changed as she spoke to him, arguing lightheartedly about being carted out to their car in the infernal wheelchair, but Molly noticed that her eyes hadn't changed at all.

She wanted to believe that maybe Bruce's presence just cheered Selina up enough to cause an immediate change like that, but her instinct told her otherwise.

Molly slung the bag over her shoulder and smiled brightly at Bruce as she followed them out of the room and into the hallway, and she realized then that what was lacking in Selina's eyes was on full display in Bruce's. It might not have been obvious to many people, but it was to her, and she quickly decided that it really was normal, all things considered. Selina had been through hell, a traumatic birth and complications following it, and really, she'd be almost inhuman to not be having issues coming to terms with it all.

Bruce seemed oblivious, and that was fine for now. He had enough to worry about, and Molly wouldn't add to it. She'd simply give them their space but keep an eye on Selina, and if she didn't adjust with time, or seemed to get worse, maybe then she'd say something.

That was enough for now, and if Molly had faith in anyone to get through almost anything, it was Selina.

**A/N: thank you guys as always for being amazing :) and thanks to midnightwings96, who I forgot to thank in my last note for continuing to be amazing and indipenseably helpful. Not a lot to say today, just my usual love, so I'll shut up now and get working on the next update :D **


	24. Chapter 24

True to Bruce's prediction, Thomas was released from the hospital one week after Selina was released herself. He came home with a plethora of gear to keep him healthy, including the CPAP machine, a case of ready-made formula (the most safe and sterile for preemies), and an actual book from the hospital on caring for premature babies. That was in addition to a heart and oxygen monitor that he was to stay on until cleared by a doctor.

Helena's crib had been swapped for a toddler bed and her room converted to a normal children's bedroom, while the room next to hers had been decorated blue and ready for Thomas' arrival for weeks. Now that he was here, it looked like a mini-hospital nursery, but because both of his parents were paranoid, the majority of his equipment was in their own bedroom, where he would be staying until he was better and they could calm down.

When they brought him home, the first thing they did was take Helena to their room with them and introduce her to her little brother for the first time - Helena hadn't been allowed in the NICU once, as per policy in the interest of keeping the environment as germ-free as possible.

Selina sat on the edge of the bed with Thomas, who was snoozing during his break from the CPAP machine, and watched as Bruce set Helena down in front of them and said, "That's your little brother, sweetheart."

The little girl had a red sucker in her mouth as she looked at the bundle in her mother's arms with half-interest. Selina shifted to give her a better view, and when Helena saw Thomas' little face, her expression became suddenly intrigued.

Selina glanced at Helena's haphazard pigtails - another one of Bruce's charming attempts to fix her hair - and then said gently, "What do you think? Think he's a keeper?"

Helena then smiled and pointed at the boy, then jabbed her finger into his socked foot. Then she looked behind to Bruce, who was kneeling behind her, and smiled broadly before announcing, "Buh-buh."

"Buh-buh," Bruce repeated with a laugh, sharing a smile with Selina. "Is that Helena-speak for brother?"

Helena then shoved the sucker back into her mouth and walked off happily, babbling about "Buh-buh" as she began hunting for her toys.

"Well," Selina sighed, "at least she didn't try to claw his eyes out."

"Told you she'd do great," Bruce said, rising back up to his feet and trying to hide how difficult it was. "I didn't think she'd have much of a jealousy problem."

"Well, let's give it a day or two before we claim success," Selina said as Bruce took their boy from her arms. She then stood and watched as Bruce started methodically hooking Thomas up to all of the necessary contraptions.

The doctor had said upon Thomas' release that his time needed on the oxygen-forcing machine would come to an end soon, and then he would be on a normal oxygen apparatus until that was also no longer needed. Until then, however, he had to spend the majority of his time on the machine, basically whenever he wasn't eating or having a brief wakeful period.

Thomas had dropped almost a full pound after his birth, which was normal, but he was now a few ounces over his birth weight and progressing as well as could be expected. His jaundice had resolved within a week, which had been a relief, and all in all, things had gone better than expected.

Still, as he lay in his own crib for the first time, sleeping as the heart monitor beeped lowly and the CPAP pushed oxygen into him, Bruce and Selina stood over him and stared down in silence.

Bruce was the first to finally speak. "We're all home. Finally."

Selina nodded, her eyes moving up to the heart monitor and staying on the glowing numbers there. "Yeah."

"He's doing fine, Selina," Bruce said gently. "We don't have to watch the monitor like that. If anything did happen, the alarm would go off."

"And then what would we do?" Selina inquired in a sharper tone than she'd intended. "We're miles from the mainland. He'd be screwed."

"He... nothing's going to happen," Bruce assured her. "And you forget that I own a hospital. We have helicopters."

Selina shrugged and turned away then. "Still. It's stupid to be this far away from help if he needed it."

She started picking up around the room then, almost compulsively, and Bruce watched her with a confused expression as he replied, "I didn't know you felt that way. I could have rented us a house in Nassau for a few months."

"It's fine," she shrugged, throwing stray clothes into a hamper. "Whatever."

"I still can, if you want -"

"I said it's fine," she half-snapped, grabbing the hamper and dragging it out of the room. Bruce watched her leave and then glanced to his left at Helena, still working on her sucker and playing with a small princess castle toy, then turned his eyes back to Thomas. Selina had been snappy lately but he didn't think it was any worse than it had been after Helena's birth. He just did anything he could to help her when he could, and had even hired a housekeeper to come and clean their house a few times a week. But that hadn't kept Selina from becoming almost OCD about everything being sparkling clean.

He knew that work was weighing heavily on her, since she'd gone to the shelter to check in on it while Thomas had still been in the NICU. Anita was doing her best in Selina's absence, but things there were in slight disarray - they were overfull, a case of supplies had gone missing, and Anita herself was about to go nuts, but now with Thomas home, Selina had no idea how to split her time.

Bruce was trying to find someone with management experience on his staff to go and help out the shelter in Selina's absence, but so far he'd come up short. He was also dealing with some of his investors beginning to lose interest since his hospital's profits were still paltry at best, and his headaches were starting to make regular appearances throughout the week. Thankfully, though, they were nothing that a fistful of over the counter meds couldn't help, and that enabled him to pretend that they didn't exist in the first place.

A gentle tugging of his sleeve caught his attention, and he looked down to see Helena handing him a blonde plastic princess. She then stated sternly, "Dolls."

He chuckled and took the toy. "All right. I guess I can play dolls for a minute."

* * *

When Selina returned from her brief laundry trip to find Bruce and Helena sitting on the floor together playing with little princess dolls - Bruce even using a high-pitched voice for effect, which made Helena giggle and grin in approval - she almost burst out laughing, loudly. A warmth came over her then, and multiplied when Bruce glanced up at her and gave her one of his heart-stopping smiles.

She then immediately sequestered herself in the bathroom for a full five minutes, trying not to cry and drown in guilt over still having yet to feel a single thing even remotely similar for her son.

* * *

As it happened, they found out in only a few hours' time that Helena was, in fact, not immune to jealousy at all.

Every time one of them sat down to feed Thomas or otherwise tend to him, Helena would immediately start trying to drag them away to pay attention to her, and would whine and scream when they wouldn't comply. By the end of the night, she was giving her brother dirty looks, yanking on Selina's clothes and squealing in her face, all just for giving Thomas a bottle.

Bruce suggested that whichever parent wasn't tending to Thomas should pay attention to Helena and try to stave off the fits, but Helena would still whine and try to drag away the one that wasn't giving her and her alone their full attention. Their stress expounded then, as neither of them had the slightest clue how to resolve a toddler's jealousy.

The day full of whining took it's toll on Helena, however, and she fell asleep in Bruce's arms a full hour earlier than usual. She stayed asleep when he transferred her to her own bed, and when he returned nearly as tired as she was to the bedroom, he found Thomas asleep as well, and Selina half-watching a movie in bed.

He got ready for bed quickly, and when he was done, climbed into bed next to Selina as he always did. "What are we watching?"

She shrugged, handing him the remote. "Whatever you want. I'm tired."

"So am I," he said, dragging a hand over his eyes as she pulled the covers over herself fully and settled down. "Something about the... constant whining."

Selina didn't respond, only sighing as she laid her head down on her pillow. He shifted himself to lay next to her, pulling her close with one arm and kissing her lightly on the lips. She returned his kiss but then turned in his arms, placing her back to his chest, and closed her eyes.

He gave her another light kiss, this time to her neck, while his hand gently caressed her side. He'd just gotten to the curve of her hip when she shifted a little bit and said, "I'm sorry... I'm just kind of... I'm a little touched out."

"Oh." Bruce pulled his hand away then, and scooted back until a few inches of space were between them.

Selina looked back at him a but guiltily, however, and said quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"No, I understand," he said quickly.

"It's just after Helena hanging on me all day -"

"Really," Bruce smiled. "I get it. Don't apologize."

She watched him for a moment before nodding and laying her head back on her pillow, facing away from him. His smile faded now that she wasn't looking, and he let his brows knit together as he then stared off towards the ceiling. This was definitely a first.

Meanwhile, Selina clenched her eyes shut as she tried not to start crying, knowing there would be no hiding it from Bruce. She hated it but she really couldn't stand being touched right now - even innocently by him. It was bizarre and she couldn't explain it, and it was next in a long line of reasons to feel like crap.

She let the sounds of faint beeping lull her to sleep, her thoughts twirling and mixing and distorting until they resulted in one of the most strange and unbearable dreams she'd ever had to date.

* * *

_It was far from unfamiliar territory, the bowels of Gotham's sewers in the darkness of night, the sounds of bones cracking and cowls shattering under the force of unstoppable fists. This was the return of an old friend, a nightmare that had kept it's distance for longer than she could have ever hoped for, but in the end, it would come back. It would always come back._

_She watched and listened to the unforgettable, sickening scene, until the ground gave way underneath her feet and the nightmare became something new. Instead of damp concrete floors, her feet suddenly found their foundation in soft, blazing hot sand, and instead of darkness, a sweltering sun surrounded and beat down mercilessly upon her._

_She looked around and saw nothing but desert, apart from something that she bizarrely thought was a well for a short moment. Her feet began moving of their own accord, moving until she approached the hollow circle of stone._

_The stones were tall, so she placed her palms down upon them and peered over the surface. She saw nothing but black for a moment, nothing but an endless pit of nothingness, until a slight glimmer at the bottom caught her eye and then began to grow._

_The more the light grew, however, the less she wished it would. The sounds of child-like crying wafted up through the pit as Selina realized who lay helpless at the bottom of the abyss. It wasn't merely Bruce, broken and hopeless, but also Helena, and even a tiny, desperately gasping Thomas. All three were lying there, all helpless, alone, and she knew it was her fault. She didn't know why or how, didn't know anything, but that much she was sure of._

_There was only one thing to do, really. Just a slight lean forward and her feet left the sand, and she was free-falling into the pit. She hoped she felt the impact of the stone below, hoped she felt every bit of it, because she would deserve it._

_Instead of the shock of impact, however, she felt her eyes fly open against the jarring sound of an alarm screaming in her ear._

* * *

Selina gasped and shot up in bed, nearly reopening her incision in the process if the shot of pain through her abdomen was any indication. Thomas' monitor was beeping frantically, and Bruce was already up and cribside.

"What's going on?" Selina asked, all but jumping out of bed and at Thomas' side in a mere second. "Bruce?! _Tell me_!"

Her heart was thudding out of her chest in panic, but Bruce ignored her, his eyes focused solely on his son as his hands moved quickly and precisely, so much so that Selina had no idea what he was doing.

"Bruce! Dammit, tell me!"

"Give me a minute," Bruce said calmly.

Selina opened her mouth to scream at him just as the alarm came to an abrupt end, replaced by the rhythm of a quick heartbeat. Her eyes flashed to the monitor, then to Thomas, and then back to Bruce. "What - what the hell happened? Bruce! Bruce -"

"His leeds came off," Bruce finally said, his voice shaking this time, and with a great heave of a sigh he closed his eyes and stumbled backwards. The backs of his legs hit their bed and he slid down to the floor, eyes still closed as he placed a hand over his mouth. His shoulders were trembling with breath that he couldn't catch, and Selina stared at him for a moment as her heart slowly descended from cardiac arrest-levels.

"His leeds," she repeated, placing her palms on the wooden railing of Thomas' crib as she peered down at him. "I thought..."

"So did I," Bruce grunted out. He'd been perfectly calm and cool under pressure, hadn't shown the slightest sign of panic when the alarm had been sounding, but now it was clear to see how much of an act that had been.

Slowly, Selina backed away from the crib, shocked that Thomas had actually stayed asleep through all of the racket. She ended up on the floor next to Bruce, both of their backs to the bed, and Bruce just now looked as if he had regained some control of himself.

He sighed and offered Selina a hollow smile. "Well, I guess that was bound to happen sooner or later."

She shrugged slightly. "What time is it?"

"Almost one."

She furrowed her brows, shocked that it was still so early in the night - she felt as if she had been dreaming for hours, and now that she had thought about the dream, it all came flooding back in a sudden rush of all of the emotions that had made it such an awful nightmare to begin with.

It was a ridiculous thing to dream, she knew that, but it didn't ease anything. She may not have had control over what she felt or the dismal ways in which she was dealing with it all, but she felt as if she may as well be throwing her family into a pit and leaving them there to rot.

Fully aware of how irrational nearly every thought in her head was, Selina sighed and climbed into bed. The most bewildering thing of all was the fact that she knew how ridiculous it all was, and yet she was utterly helpless to do a single thing about it. It was a far cry from her days of impeccable emotional control and cool rationality.

Selina felt rather than saw Bruce follow her into bed, and she didn't have to see him to notice that he moved to hold her like he normally would but then retreated at the last minute, settling in a few safe inches away from her. She recalled how she'd pushed him away earlier, how she hadn't wanted to but couldn't seem to stop herself, and she realized how thin the ice was that she was treading on. One thing she couldn't deal with was the idea of Bruce realizing what was going on - it was an unbearable idea.

So she turned over to face him, closed the few inches between them and laid her head on his chest. He embraced her in return, dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and she controlled the urge to shrink away and sleep alone. Not because she wanted to, but because she thought she deserved to.

She was still wide awake when Thomas woke up screaming for his next feeding. She told Bruce to stay in bed and sleep, and he did, leaving her to sit down in a nearby chair with her son and cry in peace as she fed him.

* * *

It had taken a few signs, a few obvious indications, for Bruce to start fearing that maybe something a little bit more than ill-adjusting was to blame for Selina's behavior. He wasn't blind, nor stupid, but when he put himself in her shoes, he couldn't fault her one bit for snapping or failing to brush her hair or stressing out to the point of misery over the shelter.

After all, she was still in pain from the C-section, still torn between duties at home and work, dealing with one child's jealousy and another's health problems, and adjusting to things being dramatically different this time around. It was a lot to handle. And he didn't care if she brushed her hair or not. But, Selina being Selina, any lack of upkeep on her appearance was incredibly odd.

However, it was when she pushed him away, literally and physically, that the red flags started waving in his head. There was odd and then there was disturbing, and he had a feeling such a thing was the latter, but really, what did he know? It wasn't like he knew the first thing about this stuff. And talking to Selina directly about it seemed to be a particularly bad idea, considering how quick she was to fly off the handle these days.

He woke up the next morning and tentatively decided to talk to Leslie about his concerns when he dropped in on the hospital that day, only for a couple of hours. Whatever was going on, he wanted to be as present as possible at home, and his team of people at the hospital were competent enough to keep the place from burning down when he wasn't there.

Selina was making breakfast for Helena when Bruce was heading out the door, standing over a pan of scrambling eggs when Bruce kissed her cheek from behind. "Hey. I'm leaving now."

She nodded, stirring the eggs around with a spatula. "All right."

"If you want I can have Alfred come over while I'm gone, or -"

"Why?" she snapped, picking up the pan and shaking the contents on to the tray of Helena's high chair. "Afraid I can't take care of two kids at once?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I just thought... you might want the help."

"Well, I don't," she said, turning and putting the pan into the sink without a second glance at him. "And anyway, I'm sure Molly will be here soon anyway. She's over here every freaking day and I have no idea how to make her go away."

"I'm sure she's just trying to help."

Selina picked Helena up then and placed her in the high chair. "Yeah, well, nobody acted like this when Helena was born. I guess now I suddenly need all of this 'help'."

Bruce caught her by her wrist then, turning her and making her look him in the eye. "Selina."

She only met his eyes for a moment before looking away, apparently finding something in the sink to be fascinating. But he placed a finger under her chin and lifted it, forcing her to look him in the eye, and kissed her.

It was a quick but sweet kiss, not as fleeting or peck-like as the recent ones they'd shared. When Bruce pulled away he smiled lightly at her and said, "You're doing a great job."

Selina opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the front door opening and a blonde barreling her way inside without so much as knocking.

"Knock knock!" Molly called out happily, a clear container of cookies under her arm as she rounded into the kitchen. "Hey guys. I brought cookies."

Bruce and Selina shared a subtle look between them, and then Bruce kissed her forehead before releasing her and nodding to Molly. "Morning. What kind?"

"Oatmeal-cranberry-orange-walnut. It's like breakfast in a cookie. Here," Molly popped open the lid and grabbed a cookie, "have one."

Bruce took the offered confection, at which point Helena got a look at the cookie and immediately tossed the eggs from her tray to the floor and held out both hands to Molly, opening and closing her little palms with a big smile on her face. Selina groaned.

"I'll be home for lunch," Bruce told Selina, giving her one more kiss before giving one to Helena as well, and disappearing out the door.

"So," Molly said with a smile, "what should we do today? We should really talk about the wedding soon, but -"

"No," Selina shook her head. "Not today."

"Why not?"

"I've got a headache," Selina muttered, walking past her daughter as well as Molly. "I'm going to go check on Thomas. Keep an eye on her."

"Okay," Molly sighed, turning her blue eyes to Helena's big hazel ones, grinning and slipping her one of the cookies.

* * *

His morning had not gone as planned, at all - Leslie had been tied up all morning and unable to talk, he hadn't been able to get as much work done as he would have liked because employees were flagging him down with questions every five minutes, and he was already sick to death of the place. It was approaching noon, and Bruce was walking to his office to retrieve his things and leave while Selina's voice pierced into his ear.

"Selina," he said gently, adjusting his cell phone against his ear, "I'm not saying that. I'm not... no. That's not what I'm saying."

He sighed as he walked to his door, listening to Selina freak out about not being able to get back to work despite the fact that Bruce was, and how unfair she found it. "I just think it would be best to stay home for a few more weeks. I'm not saying - Selina, listen - I am not saying your job doesn't matter. I know it does. Look, why don't we talk when I get home? I'm on my way now. Selina - no, that's not -"

Bruce exhaled and dropped his phone down from his ear, surprised that she'd hung up on him. It wasn't a common thing for her to do. He slipped the phone into his pocket and grabbed the door handle, just as a faint voice wafted from behind. "Mr. Wayne?"

He glanced over his shoulder and was unsurprised to see who was standing there. It was only shocking that she hadn't bothered him about something until this late in the morning. "Doctor Aleksandrov," he nodded politely.

"Sorry - I wasn't trying to eavesdrop," she said quickly, so quickly that it was an admittance that she had in fact been doing just that.

"It's fine," he shrugged, truly not caring. "Can I help you with something?"

"Just a question," Inessa replied.

He pushed his office door open and muttered, "All right, come on in."

She followed him inside, and he gathered up the few items he'd brought with him today - phone charger, keys, pair of sunglasses that he grabbed and hung on the front of his shirt - and said, "I'm actually on my way home now, so if we could make this quick..."

"Sure," the Russian nodded. "I just wanted to ask if you preferred that I resign now or wait until you can find a replacement for me."

He turned then and faced her, standing in front of his desk a few feet away from her. "What?"

"I... think it's best that I leave," Inessa said.

"Why?" he asked, genuinely confused. "Is it something to do with the department, or..."

"No," she said quietly. "Look... if you really think about it, I don't think you'll have too difficult a time figuring it out."

Silence fell then, and Bruce began mentally calculating the amount of time it would take to find another psychiatrist to replace her. He was estimating several months when she asked another question and caught him off guard. "How is your fiancée?"

"She's fine," he automatically replied.

"I've never heard you arguing with her before. On the phone or otherwise."

He gave a slight shrug. "It's a stressful time."

"But you have each other," she stated simply. "It must be nice. To have someone. Makes life a little easier. Better."

Bruce stared at her for a moment, confusion growing on his face. "Look, I..."

"Don't say anything," she half-smiled. "It won't be anything I haven't heard before. Same thing I always hear, just different names and cities."

"I think you should stay," Bruce said, feeling a brief but distinct pity for the woman in front of him. "You're good with your patients. They like you. Your rehab patients have the highest rate of success of your whole department. Maybe just give it a few more months. Then if you still want to go, you can go whenever you'd like. And I'll give you a recommendation letter to take with you."

"That's very nice of you," Inessa said, "but I'm afraid you may be... missing the point."

Bruce paused for a moment before replying, "No, I'm just choosing to ignore it."

He sensed that that was the end of the conversation, so Bruce put his keys in his pocket and started heading for the door. So it caught him off guard, then, when delicate hands grabbed his face and red lips smashed themselves against his before he could stop it or even comprehend what was happening.

His body responded faster than his brain did, his hands shoving the doctor away with maybe a little bit too much force and earning a shocked gulp from the now-flushed woman.

"I'm sorry," she said, chest heaving up and down with the shock of her actions. "I just... I had to. Once."

Bruce swallowed and let go of her shoulders, setting his jaw into a hard line before grumbling, "I changed my mind. I accept your resignation."

If she had anymore words to say he didn't hear them, because his feet carried him out of his office and down the hall so fast that he was surprised when he found himself at his car in the parking garage.

He got in the car and pulled down the visor, taking a look at his reflection in the small mirror and grimacing when he saw the remnants of some red lipstick on the corner of his mouth.

As usual, Selina had been right all along, not that it was any surprise. He turned the ignition and marveled at the _gall_ of some people, to just up and kiss someone who planned to be married in a couple of months and was their boss to boot. Not that he'd never kissed someone who belonged to somebody else, but still, this was different.

He was driving down the highway towards the docks when he realized the worst part of all - he would have to tell Selina. He stopped at a red light at an intersection and leaned his head against his hand, feeling a headache coming on. He'd surely have to physically restrain Selina to stop her from finding Inessa wherever she was and mauling her to death. On second thought, maybe he'd just keep to himself for now. Maybe he'd wait until things were better, or just never bother to say anything at all.

The sound of a furiously honking horn made his head snap up, but the light was still red. He looked up to his rearview mirror just in time to see an SUV as it barreled into the back of his car at an astonishingly high speed.

Chrome crunched, tires squealed, and Bruce's car jerked forward with all of the force of being propelled forward by a much bigger vehicle that had been blowing the speed limit. Bruce himself flew forward but was stopped from cracking his head against the windshield by his seatbelt, and when the airbag deployed and he was doubly forced back into his seat, his lower back colliding hard with it, and a blinding burst of pain in that previously injured area clouded his vision.

The back of his head hit the seat as hard as his back had, but he could only focus on the searing pain his back as he opened his eyes and began to comprehend what had just happened.

Someone wrenched his door open and started barking questions at him. "You okay, man? Hey, you okay?"

The airbag was deflating as Bruce focused his sight on the person, a balding middle-aged man, and the first thing that came to Bruce's mind was the potentially paranoid thought that a certain Russian woman had been the one who rammed into him.

"Who was driving the car that hit me?"

The man looked confused for a moment before looking back at the SUV and replying, "Some young guy. Hey, I've already called an ambulance, all right? Is there anything that I can do?

Bruce shook his head, the pain in his back and head growing with each moment, and though he was glad he hadn't been nearly killed by a crazy woman after all, he realized that this was going to be much harder to inform Selina about than the stupid kiss would have been.

he dropped his head back against the seat and groaned out a string of curses as sirens began blaring in the distance.

**A/N: ... why do I get the feeling I'm going to be hated for several reasons concerning this chapter? Anyway, Happy Easter to everyone! I spent the day alternating between writing, cleaning, and putting candy in little plastic eggs for my cute baby to hunt for tomorrow. I'm not ashamed to admit, however, that I might be most excited for post-Easter candy sales. Anyway, thanks to all of you for your reviews and thoughts and tolerance of the angst-fest that this story has become (temporarily!), and thanks to midnightwings96 for being amazing as always. I love you all, Happy Easter!**


	25. Chapter 25

Bruce really thought that the paramedics had gone a bit overboard in their caution, even if it was protocol to strap a neck brace on him and tie him down to the stretcher so securely that he couldn't have moved an inch if he wanted to. But, when they'd arrived and asked about prior injuries and he'd told them about his broken back, they'd gotten a bit quiet and had taken every precaution possible to keep him from moving any part of his body.

The ride to the hospital took all of five minutes, and despite the pulsing, sharp, disturbing pain in his lower back, Bruce kept quiet until he was transferred from the ambulance into his very own emergency room. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the ER staff did double takes and all flocked to his stretcher, all apparently eager to take care of their stricken employer.

A few nurses helped the medics get him off of the stretcher on to a perfectly flat bed without actually moving him, and when a doctor flew into the room looking a little too excited, Bruce stopped him before he could finish his first question.

"Mr. Wayne, I see that you -"

"Thompkins," Bruce said flatly. "Get me Thompkins. And Martinez and Roberts for my nurses. And I need my phone from the medics."

The doctor looked a little forlorn, but nodded. "Right away, sir."

The nurses arrived first, and as one of them grabbed a chart and started taking down what the medics were telling her, Bruce instructed the other to take his phone and compose a text.

"I need you to say that something came up at the hospital and that I'm going to be here a little bit longer," Bruce said as the nurse nodded. It technically wasn't a lie, and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Selina that he was strapped down to a bed in the ER with no idea of how bad he'd just been injured.

"Can't be hurt too bad if you're thinking up white lies to keep your woman at bay," the nurse grinned after sending the text.

He was about to retort when he heard the sound of more footsteps, and then the sound of Leslie's voice groaning, "Oh, dear _Lord_ - what happened?"

Bruce stared at the ceiling, the only thing he physically could stare at, as the medics started rolling off the facts to Leslie. The doctor listened quietly, then equally quietly instructed a nurse to page doctors that Bruce recognized as being an orthopedic surgeon and a neurologist, respectively. She also muttered about ordering X-rays and a CT scan before approaching Bruce's side and peering down over him.

"How do you feel?"

"Honestly," he groaned, "like I broke my back all over again."

"I'd be surprised if you did," she said, "but I'm sure you've reinjured yourself. Does anything else hurt?"

"My head," he replied. "And knees. But the knees always hurt."

"Well, I won't know much until I can get some films," Leslie sighed, taking a pen out of the pocket of her lab coat. Then started poking him with it, starting from his feet and working upwards. "Can you feel this?"

"Yeah."

She continued to poke and ask with each try, and each time he answered yes. Then she checked him for signs of a concussion, and just as an X-ray tech arrived with a portable machine, one of the nurses said, "Your fiancee's calling, Mr. Wayne."

"Just... don't answer, for now."

Leslie gave him a pointed look that Bruce chose to ignore, then shooed everyone out of the room other than herself and the X-ray tech.

"Mind telling me why you're ignoring Selina's calls?" Leslie ventured as the machine was angled over Bruce.

"I don't want to worry her until I know for sure that I'm fine and that she doesn't have to freak out."

"And if you aren't fine?"

Bruce's heart nearly sunk at the thought - not for his own sake, because he could handle whatever physical issues he'd have to deal with if that were the case, but for the sake of his family. This was horrible, horrible timing. He couldn't afford to be laid up in bed for weeks recovering from a stupid accident, not while Selina wasn't quite herself and while Thomas was still requiring extra care.

"Then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

* * *

One of the perks of owning the whole damn place was the fact that when the radiology department saw Bruce's name on the tests they were sent to process, they got done a heck of a lot faster than they would have otherwise. Bruce wildly disapproved of this and tried to insist that they process results in the order that they were received, but Leslie quietly usurped him. Thanks to her, she was showing him his X-rays and reading his CT results in only another forty-five minutes after the tests were completed.

"Now," Leslie said, holding up the films to the bright overheard light so that Bruce could see, "what we see here is the fact that you never came close to healing properly. I don't know how you've been walking around this whole time, I really don't. And you did reinjure yourself, quite badly - you need surgery, Bruce."

"Can't... can't you just give me a brace or something to realign everything?"

"No," Leslie sighed, actually sounding a bit irritated, which was odd for her. "You'll need a brace after your surgery, but it won't help you right now."

"I really can't afford to -"

"_Bruce_. You can't put it off any longer. I told you to get your back worked on a long time ago, when you woke up from the coma I put you in back in Gotham. You don't have a choice this time. I've paged an orthopedic surgeon. He'll be in here to talk to you in a matter of minutes." When Bruce clenched his jaw in despair, Leslie added, "You've got two little babies, Bruce. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can get better and start chasing them around again. You owe it to them to take care of yourself."

"But Selina... she's..." Bruce sighed, "she's having a hard time dealing with everything that happened."

"And she's got us to help her while you recover," Leslie pointed out. "Me, Alfred, Molly. You two aren't alone. And you'll be no good to her, or your kids, until you're healthy, anyway."

Bruce pressed his lips into a thin line as Leslie leaned down and finally removed his neck brace, then elevated the bed slightly so that he wasn't completely flat and utterly uncomfortable anymore. "I'm going to need my phone."

"Indeed. The surgeon's already got the OR booked," Leslie said, grabbing his phone off of a tray and handing it to him. "You might ask him to throw in a couple of knee replacements while he's at it."

Bruce gave her a side-glare as he dialed Selina's number.

* * *

"Come _on_, Thomas," Selina muttered, fighting with her crying son to get a bottle into his mouth. She'd been trying for the last ten minutes, and although she knew he was starving, he was fighting the bottle with everything that he had.

Helena had gone down for a nap, and Molly was sitting across from mother and child in the living room, watching the struggle with a frown.

Beside Selina, on the arm of the couch, her cell phone rang. She sighed and stuck the phone between her ear and shoulder, and went back to fighting with Thomas. "Yeah."

"Hey, it's me."

"Are you on your way home yet? Thomas is being -"

"No, I'm not. Listen -"

"What?" Selina asked, unable to hear a word Bruce was saying over her son's wailing. "I can't hear you."

Then Molly appeared in front of her, and without a word she took both Thomas and the bottle, and went back to her place opposite Selina.

"Sorry," Selina muttered into the phone. "What did you say?"

"I've got something to tell you, Selina, and I don't want you to freak out."

Selina's eyes instantly widened - those words did nothing _but_ freak her out, which he should have anticipated. "What? What happened?"

"I got rear ended," Bruce's tired-sounding voice said. "I was at a red light and this car was flying and couldn't stop, they told me the driver's brakes went out, but -"

"Where are you?" she interrupted. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "But I reinjured my back. It's bad enough that I don't have a choice but to let them do surgery."

Selina's jaw dropped open a little bit. Molly was asking her what was going on, but Selina barely noticed. She hardly had enough wits about her in that moment to notice that Thomas was now utterly quiet and happily taking his bottle in Molly's arms.

"It's not a big deal," Bruce quickly assured her. "They're just going to fix some old damage and take care of what happened today."

"How is that not a big deal?"

"I just... I don't want you to worry. The surgeon's coming in to talk to me in a minute and -"

"I'm coming up there," Selina said decisively.

"You don't have to," Bruce replied. "Really, I'll be fine. You can stay home with the kids and -"

"And what? Sit around and wait? Are you kidding me?"

She could almost hear Bruce pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. "I just want to make this easy on you."

"Easy on me isn't making me sit at home while you get your back cut open."

"_What?!_" Molly suddenly exclaimed.

"Fine," Bruce conceded. "See if Alfred or Molly will take the kids."

"Fine," Selina replied through gritted teeth. "I'll be there soon."

Once Selina hung up, Molly exclaimed, "Hello! What's going on?"

"Bruce had an accident," Selina said, getting up to start gathering her things. "Can you take Helena for a few hours? Or the day? I don't know how long I'm going to be up there. Alfred knows how to work the CPAP so I'm going to ask him to take Thomas."

"Sure," Molly nodded, "anything you need. Is he ok? Why's he getting 'cut open'?"

"He... has an old injury that never healed, and I guess the accident aggravated it, so they're doing surgery."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry," Molly said. "Yeah, anything you need, just let me know. I'm happy to take Helena for the day."

Selina nodded and thanked her, then muttered to herself about calling Alfred and ran to the bedroom to quickly change out of her sweats to something slightly better looking. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, yet the two things that kept creeping to the forefront was the inevitable wave of guilt that would crash over her any moment, since she was responsible for Bruce's broken back in the first place, and also the sight of Thomas calming down within seconds of being nestled into someone else's arms. For the sake of her own sanity, however, she pushed down the thoughts and continued to make arrangements for the day, hoping that Bruce really hadn't been downplaying things for her sake.

* * *

Selina arrived in Bruce's room just as the orthopedic surgeon was giving him a rundown of what he planned to do to Bruce's back. Their eyes met but Selina stayed silent, nodding the only other person present in the room, who was Leslie.

Selina listened in silence as the doctor detailed all of the ways in which Bruce's back never quite healed, how shocked he was at the state of it, and why Bruce never sought real treatment for it until now. He pointed out parts of Bruce's x-rays that were still on the wall over lights, and though Selina didn't quite understand all of the terminology used, she was far from dim and could translate the point of it all. And the conclusion made her heart sink.

It was abundantly clear why she'd spent the last two years watching Bruce take bottle after bottle of pain relievers, waking up some days so stiff that she wondered how he could manage to function, let alone exercise like he insisted on doing. It was all laid there in front of her, in films of black and white, his worst injury he'd sustained in his life, thanks to her.

The surgeon said he'd be sending Bruce to pre-op soon, and that the surgery was scheduled for three o'clock. He also told Bruce that after the surgery, recovery would involve a heavy-duty back brace and four to six weeks of very little to no activity, effectively placing him on bedrest. The time was 1:30 when the surgeon left the room.

Selina didn't want to think about a month of Bruce being bedridden, probably in pain as well, suffering the consequences of fixing what she helped to break. She especially didn't want to think about the more selfish aspect of things, of how that left her to take care of both the kids and Bruce on her own during his recovery.

It was all far too much, far too terrible of timing, but this was her doing, she reasoned. She could find nobody to blame but herself.

Leslie excused herself to give the couple a moment, and when she did, Selina let her eyes take Bruce in fully. Seeing him like this, lying in a hospital bed, exhausted-looking, his jaw clenched in pain that he was trying to hide, was almost enough to make her lose her precarious hold on things.

"I hope you let them give you pain meds," Selina remarked, her voice coming out a little feebler than she'd hoped.

He shook his head. "I didn't want to be making decisions about surgery with a... clouded head."

Selina sighed and turned her eyes towards the floor. "Of course."

"Did you come here so you could stand on the opposite side of the room as far away from me as possible?"

Selina looked up to find a very strained, very faint grin on his face. She put one foot in front of the other, without a word, until she was at his side and within his reaching distance.

"I know what you're thinking," Bruce said gently, one of his hands reaching out to take her own. "Please don't do that to yourself."

She laughed humorlessly. "You're wasting your breath."

Bruce was quiet for a moment, running his thumb along her hand comfortingly until he said, "Maybe this was all a good thing, in the end. I'll have the surgery and recover and hopefully, this issue will be behind us and I'll have a better quality of life."

Selina pulled her hand back a bit sharply then, shaking her head and closing her eyes as she took a step back and said, "No, don't you try to turn this into some kind of silver lining shit right now, Bruce. Seriously, I can't take hearing it right now. You said the same crap with Bane, and it was just as stupid then as it is now."

"Selina..."

"No, because you know what?" she interrupted, her voice getting louder, "Sometimes there really isn't a silver lining. Sometimes there isn't a reason - sometimes things just suck, and bad things happen to good people, people who don't deserve shit like this. You don't deserve this, you never have and never will, and I'm sick of you acting like it's fine that I'm the reason it happened. It's not fine, Bruce. It'll never be fine. I don't care how forgiving you are, it doesn't make it all right. And you sure as hell shouldn't be trying to comfort me while you're the one laying in a hospital bed."

Bruce stared at her for a moment, seemingly unsure of what the hell to say until he closed his eyes briefly and said, "I'm really sick of this."

"Sick of what?" she asked, her tone almost challenging.

"Sick of you hanging on to guilt that you should have let go a long time ago. I really have no idea what to do to make you see that none of that matters anymore."

"Maybe it doesn't matter to you," Selina said, "but you're not the one who did something horrible and has to live with it."

Bruce stared off towards the door, not sparing her a glance as he muttered, "I have plenty that I have to live with."

"Then why is it so hard for you to get that I can't just let go?"

He turned his eyes back to hers and replied in a low voice, "Because you let it eat you alive. You let it get between us during times like this when I need you to be here and not five thousand miles away in your head."

Selina averted her gaze, knowing full well how true his words were, except she felt worlds away, rather than mere miles. Guilt was only a piece of the puzzle now, now that everything else in her life felt like it was hanging by a thread and ready to snap at any moment. Her mind was still racing, still confused and troubled, and she wondered if this would be the thing to make her collapse upon herself.

The sound of footsteps got her attention a moment later, when several nurses came inside the room to transfer Bruce to pre-op. Selina followed them, though a part of her was nearly too frightened to want to.

They weren't left alone again after that, and Selina kept quiet as nurses and doctors came and went with questions and quick exams. It was all very straightforward and routine feeling, but Selina felt a numbness settling over her as the time came closer. She knew it was a defense mechanism, and right now she didn't care. Feeling nothing was better than hurting, physically and emotionally both, along with Bruce.

When the time came and nurses arrived to take him back to the operating room, Selina leaned down to give him a kiss and braved another look from him that she knew was meant to be reassuring. She could hardly stand it, hating that she couldn't seem to comfort him for one damn minute - instead, she'd all but yelled at him moments ago for no real reasons.

She followed as far as she could, and once he was gone and the doors to the OR were closed, she pulled out her phone and went about calling Molly and Alfred to both check up on the babies and give them updates. She walked and walked as she spoke, feeling very robotic about it all, and when the calls were done and she put her phone away, she realized she didn't even know which part of the hospital she was in.

It was a wing full of private rooms and signs pointing to different labs and treatment rooms, but she needed to get to the waiting room down in surgery and wasn't sure how to get there from here. She headed to the nearest nurses' station to ask, but ended up stopping just short and listening carefully from the other side of a wall when she heard her name being spoken.

"... that Selina chick. Aren't they married?" one nurse asked the other.

"No, they're engaged. Two kids though, so they may as well be married. Just makes that Russian chick all the more gutsy."

"And pathetic. What exactly did Mary say she saw, though?"

"She told me that Wayne's office door was open, and that she was about to walk past it when she heard their voices. Mary's a nosy bitch -"

"Understatement."

" - So of course she had to eavesdrop. She said they had this weird conversation where Aleksandrov tried to quit, and he tried to get her to stay, but she said, like, cryptic things about the real reason she wanted to leave, which Mary interpreted as meaning that she's like in love with Wayne but knows she can't have him."

"Not surprising, the woman follows him around with big puppy dog eyes every day he's here."

"No kidding. But anyway, she heard Wayne start to walk towards the door, so Mary started to panic and was about to run, but then she heard a weird sound."

"Don't tell me she looked inside the damn office."

"She did. Just in time to see him pushing Aleksandrov off of him - actually, she said it was more like a violent shove - and then he basically fired her."

"I can't believe she had the audacity to actually kiss him. I mean, really! Who does that?"

"Skanks. Skanks do that."

"Hey, I wonder if she's the one who rammed into him and put him in here today."

"Already wondered that myself. But the driver's here too, with some broken ribs and a concussion or something. Some guy who was putting off fixing his brakes, apparently."

"Hmm... well, there goes my conspiracy theory."

Selina had heard enough. She slunk away and started walking again, nearly as aimlessly as before, but this time she managed to find her way to the correct waiting area.

She sunk down into one of the small, uncomfortable chairs, ignoring the other folks and families also waiting there, and tried to decide how to process the information she'd just inadvertently discovered.

Naturally, her first reaction was to be furious at Bruce for keeping something like being kissed by another woman from her. Then the urge to hunt the Russian down and tear her limbs off of her one by one came next.

She thought back to how ridiculously jealous Bruce had been of Eric during his unexpected visit last year, and she suddenly had the highly irrational thought that a car accident, excruciating pain, and back surgery didn't excuse Bruce for not mentioning the kiss to her. To find out by overhearing two gossiping nurses was serving as great fuel to her already flailing mind, and destroying the numb that had settled over her less than an hour ago.

She sat there in the chair, staring up at a clock on the wall, and watched the minutes tick by. Somewhere in between all of the runaway, chaotic thoughts, she decided to wait and see how long it would take Bruce to tell her about the kiss himself.

* * *

Bruce felt like he floating when he slowly began to open his eyes, coming back to reality under a cloud of swirling painkillers that he was instantly aware of. He hated the feeling, but there was nothing he could do about it.

When his eyes opened fully, he avoided looking directly at the lights overhead and instead looked first to his left. He saw a dull green curtain, separating his space from another one, and a beeping monitor. Then he looked to his right, and there sat Selina, looking tired and worried but wearing a small smile for him.

Then there was a young man in his face, smiling warmly. "Hey there, Mr. Wayne. Everything went great. You're in recovery now while we monitor you a bit longer. Let me know if you need anything."

Bruce managed a nod, then was relieved when the other man's face left his vision and allowed Bruce to see his fiancée once more.

She scooted her chair up closer to him, and in his drug-induced haze, he could only string together two words to utter from his slightly hoarse throat. "You're beautiful."

"And you're on drugs," she grinned. "How do you feel?"

His eyes moved from hers to the ceiling and then back again. "High as a kite."

"Better than being in pain," she replied.

He tried to move, to sit up a little bit, but his movement felt suddenly restricted. Selina explained quickly, "They've already got you in the brace. Thing looks kind of brutal."

"Oh," Bruce muttered, giving up and slumping back against the bed. His head was spinning anyway. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Selina asked, her tone amused. "Sorry for what?"

"I don't know," he grinned. "Seemed like the thing to say."

"I want a hit of what you're on," Selina chuckled.

"I want a hit of you."

Selina snorted. "I shouldn't be surprised that Bruce Wayne would wake up from major surgery feeling horny, of all things."

"You can't blame me," he said, lacing his fingers through hers and closing his eyes. "It's been awhile."

"Three weeks," Selina pointed out. "And you've got three more to go."

He then made a sound that sounded like a cross between a groan and a whine, and when taken into account with his current state, it was almost cute. "Why can't we cheat a little? Just this once..."

His voice was trailing off, his words a little slurred, and Selina replied, "Well, for one, I don't think you'll be in shape for that sort of thing until this brace comes off. So we're really looking at four to six weeks."

"I could just lay here... let you do the work. I wouldn't feel em.. emas... demas... unmas... uh..."

"Emasculated?" Selina guessed.

"Yeah. That."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Selina said, thinking he might be starting to fall back asleep. "I'm going to enjoy teasing you about this later when you can't remember a word you're saying."

The corners of his lips turned up in a small grin, though his eyes stayed closed. "Don't let them give me any more morphine after this."

"You really need it," Selina said gently.

"I don't like drugs."

"But right now you need them."

He tried to scoff, but instead started nodding off. Then he caught himself, mumbled something, and then drifted off again.

Selina let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and gently untangled her hand from Bruce's, relieved that he had fallen asleep. She'd felt like she was acting the whole time, plastering a smile on her face when her heart was aching at the sight of him in the brace and fresh out of surgery. She had no intention of relaying his wishes on the morphine, because the only comfort to be had was for the fact that at least he wasn't in pain.

She took a deep breath and distractedly watched Bruce's monitor, hoping the road to his recovery wouldn't be as hard as she expected it would be.

**A/N: thank you to everyone for the continuing reviews, feedback, and general awesomeness! :D I do believe this story is about to hit 500+ reviews, which is amazing, and even though the word count exceeded that of its predecessor like ten or more chapters ago, it's now up to the same chapter count as YLBIP. And the funny thing about that this story is nowhere near the realm of being over. Its not even halfway over. So, lets go for 25 more chapters and 500 more reviews! :p **


	26. Chapter 26

Bruce was supposed to remain in the hospital for a minimum of three days following his surgery. Instead, he managed to make the staff so miserable and sick of fighting to attempt to care for him that he was released barely 24 hours after waking up, on the condition that he'd faithfully attend his follow-ups and start physical therapy after four weeks of recovery.

He came home to find his and Selina's bedroom set up and ready for him to lay helplessly in for days upon days. Selina walked him there, supporting his weight with an arm around his waist, keeping him straight even though his constricting brace was already doing the job.

He stayed silent until she eased him into the bed, offering her a tight smile that didn't mask the pain he was in. She sat at his side for a moment and shook her head. "Why can't you just take some damn Vicodin?"

"Because I'm a stubborn and masochistic bastard," Bruce said, trying to keep his voice light.

"I'm going to spike your drink. I'm not joking."

"Hey now," Bruce replied, "you don't need drugs to take advantage of me."

She rolled her eyes and moved to get up, but his hand came down on hers and stopped her. She squeezed his hand back but said, "I need to go check on the kids."

"Just wait a minute," Bruce said quietly. "We haven't been alone once in days."

"No," Selina said, "we were alone after you woke up the first time yesterday, but you were so high out of your mind that you don't remember."

"I still think you're lying about that."

"I guess you'll never know."

Bruce was smirking but absently fumbling with one of the velcro straps of his brace, adjusting it enough to itch at his chest under it. Then his smirk turned into a frown as he remarked, "God, why is this thing so itchy?"

"Maybe if you stopped messing with it," she said, batting his hand away, "it wouldn't itch so bad. This is why you got kicked out of your own hospital, isn't it? You're going to be a huge pain in my ass."

"Not just yours, Miss Kyle," Alfred's voice sounded from the doorway. Bruce and Selina's eyes turned towards Alfred as he walked into the room, cradling Thomas in his arms while Helena toddled in behind him. "Good to see you both home."

"Thanks for helping out," Bruce said sincerely.

"I figure it's as good a time as any to get to know my little namesake here," Alfred replied, taking a seat in an armchair across from the bed. "And do my best to keep you from driving your fiancée completely mad."

"Careful, Helena," Selina said gently, placing her hands on the little girl's shoulders when it looked like she was about to jump on her father.

"Set her up here," Bruce said, motioning to the space between his arm and side. Selina reluctantly obliged, knowing it would only take a fraction of the child's exuberance to hurt Bruce further. But instead, Helena smiled brightly and snuggled up to his side, and laid her head on his shoulder contentedly. Bruce kissed the top of her head and grinned, "I might have to spend more nights away from home if this is what it gets me."

Selina patted Bruce's knee then and said, "Thomas has a doctor's appointment in an hour. I've got to go get ready."

Bruce nodded as she got up and headed to the bathroom. When the door was closed behind her, Bruce looked to Alfred and asked quietly, "Does she seem... herself to you, Alfred?"

"Selina? No," Alfred answered without hesitation. "But she _has_ been through quite a bit in a matter of weeks. So have you."

Bruce nodded, glancing down as Helena's little stubby fingers started playing with the annoying velcro of his brace.

"What makes you ask?"

Bruce shrugged lightly, or at least he tried. "Nothing."

"You're a poor liar, as always."

Bruce didn't respond, a sharp pain in his back stealing his attention away from his thoughts. He glanced around him to try to find something to focus on that would distract him, and ended up noticing a basket full of food on his nightstand for the first time. "What's all that?"

"That would be your other neighbor's doing," Alfred said. "All the muffins and cookies you can handle."

"Great," Bruce muttered. "I'm going to be 100 pounds heavier by the time I get this brace off."

"You don't have to eat them."

Bruce gave Alfred an incredulous side-look. "Have you _had_ that woman's muffins?"

Thomas began stirring then, shifting in Alfred's arms and draping a tiny arm over his face as he settled back down. "He looks just like you, you know. And I don't just mean his face. You used to sleep exactly like this when you were an infant."

"How's he been for you?" Bruce asked, still hugging Helena close.

"He's been wonderful. Barely a peep unless he's hungry. Selina told me he was this inconsolable crying monster, but I haven't seen that side of him."

Bruce furrowed his brows as he stared at his son. "No, she's right. He cries a lot normally. Alfred, I'm starting to get a bad feeling."

"About what, sir?"

Before Bruce could answer, Selina emerged from the bathroom. Both men fell silent, and by the look on her face, she seemed to sense that they'd been discussing her.

* * *

At the pediatrician's office, Selina received welcome news that Thomas was doing well enough to have his daily time on the CPAP cut in half. Back at home, however, she received less welcome news.

"Bruce..." Selina groaned, sitting on the edge of the bed with Thomas in her arms, a bottle in his mouth.

"I know. I know it's bad timing. But I completely forgot that we'd planned this, and I can't cancel now. Also, he and Raven apparently broke up again, so he's having a rough time."

"They broke up again?" Selina asked. "Why?"

"He didn't say."

Selina sighed, staring down at Thomas. "But what's the point of him even coming for training if you're stuck in bed?"

Bruce paused before muttering, "I was hoping you could fill in for me."

Her eyes rapidly snapped up to his. "Are you kidding me? I'm just now healing from the C-section - I used the treadmill last night and it about killed me. And anyway, I'm not the one with the fancy training, Bruce."

"You've still got years of experience on him," Bruce pointed out. "Look, if you don't want to, that's fine. I'll find an excuse or something. I'll figure it out."

Selina rolled her eyes. "No. Whatever. It's fine."

"I thought that maybe you'd like the chance to do a little fighting," Bruce shrugged. "Keep yourself sharp for those self-defense classes you teach."

"You mean the ones I haven't done in months," Selina rolled her eyes. "Blake's not going to be emo like he was the first time they broke up, is he?"

"Actually," Bruce said, "when I talked to him, he sounded really angry."

Thomas had fallen asleep, so Selina gently withdrew the bottle from his mouth and set it aside. "When's he going to be here?"

"A few days."

"Great."

"You don't have to. I'm only asking."

"I said I'd do it," Selina muttered, getting up to lay Thomas in his crib. She started to hook him up to the CPAP machine, then remembered that he didn't need it during the day anymore. Instead, she unwound the clear tubing of a regular oxygen apparatus, then gently placed it in Thomas' little nose and tucked the sides behind his ears. It was strange to watch him asleep in his bed without anything covering his face.

"Thank you," Bruce said. She didn't acknowledge him, instead turning down Thomas' monitor to a low beep.

"Selina."

She turned then, giving him a blank look.

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"It's just... you've been through a lot in the last month, and -"

"I'm fine," she interrupted. "How's your pain?"

"... The same."

"Ready to try one of the muscle relaxers yet?" When Bruce shook his head, she sighed and muttered, "Fine. I need to go... do things."

Then she was up and out of the room in a flash, as Bruce worriedly watched her go.

* * *

Staying busy was key. She had to keep herself busy, or else she'd have nothing else to do but think. And thinking was the last thing she wanted to do, because when the house was quiet and it was just her alone with her thoughts, she would get one step closer to fearing that she really was about to break.

So Selina busied herself with taking care of the kids, calling the shelter a few times a day and dropping in when she had time, making sure Bruce was as comfortable as he could be without painkillers, and going about it all so robotically but competently that she really thought she was fooling everyone.

But then there were times where she would catch the looks in Bruce's eyes before he would look away, and she knew he was getting suspicious. As time went on and things fell into a routine at home, she was starting to realize that she couldn't run forever, nor could she continuously blame her behavior on fatigue.

The night before Blake's arrival, the kids were asleep and Bruce had finally relented and taken a muscle relaxer. It wasn't a painkiller, but it helped make him comfortable enough to sleep in the bed that he was despising more and more with each day he spent in it. Selina was moving silently through the room, having just prepared for bed and doing her best to not wake Bruce up, and was peering down into Thomas' crib when she felt a hand take hold of hers from behind.

She'd no sooner turned her head before Bruce pulled her down to the bed with surprising strength, and as soon as she was on the mattress, sitting at his side, she felt her insides freeze at the look on his face.

He was fully awake, but he looked relaxed and tension-free for the first time since he'd been home, surely thanks to the medication, and the darkness of the room was mirrored in his eyes. His hand left hers to cup her cheek, the other one landed on her hip, and before she could say a word, he pulled her down and kissed her more passionately than he had in weeks.

Selina was instantly overwhelmed, her mind suddenly clouded with competing instincts - one to run, one to stay, and one to be aware of her every movement so that she didn't accidentally hurt him. His hand on the back of her neck pulled her closer, his mouth open against hers as he deepened the kiss, and it was too much.

"Bruce," she breathed, forcing them to break apart. "I don't think you should -"

A low growling sound from his throat cut her off, and he pulled her back down to him for another kiss. She managed to pull away again and said, "Bruce, really..."

"I'm fine, Selina," he said, dropping his lips to her neck. "I'm fine."

She felt so odd, so conflicted between wanting to do what they could get away with for now and wanting to run away as fast as she could. She couldn't make sense of the conflict, nor could she grasp why in the world she was on the verge of pushing him away, so she closed her eyes and resolved to simply try to push through it, for Bruce's sake.

The problem was, as she responded to his kisses and touches in much the same competent, perfectly normal way that she went about doing laundry or feeding their kids, Bruce was able to quickly tell that her head was far from in the moment.

He brought his eyes to hers, holding her hair back from her face, and murmured, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm tired," Selina replied. She then kissed him, as if to prove to both of them that she could overcome her own mind and her own confusion, but this time, he was the one that forced them apart.

Bruce stared at her, stared long enough to make her squirm inside and fear that everything she was hiding was somehow laid bare to him in that moment. Then he finally spoke again, quietly asking, "Help me up."

She helped him sit up against their wooden headboard, an endeavor that left him as out of breath as their kissing had, but his eyes remained intense upon hers. "Selina..."

"Bruce," she interrupted, "I am tired. I'm exhausted. I'm stressed. I'm... _trying_."

"I know," he said quietly. "I know that. But you've never had to try before." When Selina looked away and said nothing, Bruce carefully thought over his next words. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," she replied automatically. "I told you, I'm just..."

The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't buying it for a second. For a moment he looked as if he was going to press her further, but then he seemed to think better of it. "You know that you can talk to me about anything. Anything that's bothering you. You know that, right?"

When Selina nodded, he added, "I don't want us to hide things from each other. Not anymore."

Selina's thoughts instantly flickered to the Russian doctor's kiss that Bruce had still not yet mentioned to her. She didn't have any irrational feelings on the subject anymore, but the longer he went without telling her, the more it bothered her. But right now, as she looked into his eyes and saw nothing but honesty and sincerity there, she realized that it was most likely that he'd simply forgotten about the kiss under the weight of his current circumstances.

Bruce's fingers found her face again, caressing the side of it as he continued to maintain deep eye contact with her and make her feel disturbingly, vulnerably, translucent under his stare.

She was sure now that he suspected, and of course he would - he was Bruce Wayne, not some dim, self-absorbed man that she could fool forever. But what good could possibly come of telling him about something so terrible and inescapable that she wasn't close to understanding it herself? What was the benefit of further burdening a man she'd already cursed to suffer terrible physical pain?

She thought about kissing him and shutting him up, giving him what he wanted and letting endorphins do what he wouldn't allow Vicodin to, but that was one part of their life together that she knew she couldn't fake her way through. When it came to their physical relationship, he knew her inside and out, backwards and forward, better than she knew herself. He would see, feel, and hear everything, everything that was wrong and everything that she didn't know how to say. Even if he couldn't, and that wasn't a concern, she still couldn't have brought herself to do it. She'd never been more "not in the mood" than she had been since Thomas had been born, and she now understood the incredibly cliched concept of "it's not you, it's me".

Out of options, Selina did the only thing she knew how to do. She kissed Bruce gently, said something about getting a breath of fresh air, and ended up sitting alone on the deck outside until she was sure that he was asleep and that it was safe to go to bed herself.

* * *

A few days later, as the mid-morning sun beat down on the island, Blake walked into Bruce and Selina's house and got promptly mauled by a toddler.

Helena seemed to have an excellent memory for a child so small, dropping an armful of toys and rushing to her godfather as soon as he walked through the door. Selina poked her head around the kitchen to see what had her daughter squeaking happily, and smiled a little when she saw Blake scoop her up and flash her a big smile.

"Well, at least someone's happy to see you," Selina deadpanned, earning a narrow-eyed but harmless glare from Blake.

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too," Blake muttered, getting smacked by Helena for not paying full attention to her.

"I'm sure you are. Come on, Bruce is laid up in bed eating muffins."

As Blake followed her to the bedroom, he had a sudden and inexplicable image pop up in his head of Bruce in his full Batman attire, laying in a big bed with a muffin in each hand. He shook his head and was then surprised by the sheer sadness he felt when he walked into the bedroom and saw the real thing.

Bruce being helpless and clearly uncomfortable wasn't an easy sight for anyone who cared about him, but Blake nodded and put on a smile as Bruce looked up to see him in the doorway. "Hey, Bruce."

Bruce nodded back, then furrowed his brows slightly. "Helena looks extremely happy right now."

"Yep, she hasn't forgotten how awesome her godfather is," Blake remarked, Selina behind him as he turned his eyes to the crib next to the bed. "Thomas in there?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping," Bruce replied as Blake stepped near the crib and looked down into it.

Blake's eyes went from the boy to Bruce and then back again. "He looks just like you. I mean, _just_ like you."

"Yeah, except the eyes. He's got Selina's eyes."

"How's he doing?"

"Better," Selina interjected, perching on the edge of the bed. "Almost off the CPAP machine for good."

"Good," Blake said, setting Helena down on the floor. She immediately ran off to grab her beloved toy ponies from her toy box in a corner of the bedroom, then dragged them back to Blake to show them to him while babbling happily. Blake grinned down at the toddler and said, "You are, like, ridiculously cute. You're killing me."

After taking a light blue pony that she insisted he take, Blake sat down in the nearest chair and sighed, glancing at Bruce. Bruce returned the glance and Selina watched, wondering if there was some sort of guy-code-language being exchanged in their looks.

"Well," Selina said, sliding off the bed, "I've got to go call Anita."

In Selina's absence, the two men glanced at each other again, and Bruce spoke first. "You look like hell."

Blake snorted. "Says the guy in the back brace cuddling an empty muffin basket." When Bruce rolled his eyes, Blake added, "Something's up, isn't it?"

Bruce paused and asked quietly, "Is it that easy to tell with her?"

"Her? I'm talking about you," Blake said. "Your face. You've got your mask back on."

Bruce stared at the wall for a moment, remembering why Blake was so damn annoying sometimes. How this guy could naturally know so much about Bruce's current states with just a glance was beyond him. "Well," Bruce retorted, "so do you."

Blake shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You're angry."

Blake gave a slight wave of his hand. "Yeah. So? Better than moping like I did last time."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd rather find out what's going on down here," Blake replied.

"It's just... a lot's happened, obviously."

"And?" Blake prodded.

"And we're all adjusting."

"Selina on the mother of all guilt trips or something?"

Bruce shrugged lightly. "That's part of it. It's... a lot."

"Well, at least you guys are still together," Blake said somewhat bitterly.

"Like I said, if you need to talk about it..."

Blake shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to think about it anymore. All I do is think about it, and _her_, and it's driving me crazy."

"Well, if it helps, Selina agreed to temporarily take over your training. Since I'm obviously useless right now. Might help get your mind off everything."

Blake didn't seem enthused nor unhappy with the idea, instead closer to indifferent. "Better than nothing, I guess."

"My money's still on her," Bruce half-grinned. "I've seen her kick your ass several times."

Blake scoffed. "Are you kidding? She just popped that kid out, plus she's been out of practice. While I've been out on the streets every night."

"Yeah, but she's got just as much built-up anger as you do, I think," Bruce said. "Actually, maybe this isn't a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because, both of you pissed off and fighting each other might not end well. And you know you'll have to go easy on her."

Blake shrugged. "Yeah, I know. It'll be fine."

After another moment where Bruce seemed to contemplate it some more, he nodded. Then there came a whining from the crib, and Bruce asked quietly, "Would you mind getting him for me?"

"Sure," Blake said, getting to his feet and quickly heading to the crib. Thomas was wide awake, brown eyes big and curious as they landed on Blake, and he said, "He does have her eyes."

Blake picked the boy up carefully, making sure not to kink up the tubing of his oxygen apparatus as it stretched to accommodate the movement. Then he brought the baby to Bruce, slowly placing him in the older man's arms before looking down to find Helena in front of him, shoving another pony into his hands.

"In the bathroom there's a case of formula, in pre-made bottles," Bruce said, cradling the boy. "Would you mind grabbing one?"

"Sure," Blake said again. When he returned with one of the bottles, he handed it to Bruce and then sat back down, and asked, "Are you taking painkillers?"

Bruce shook his head, popping the bottle into Thomas' hungry mouth. "Nope."

"Why the hell not?" Blake asked incredulously. "How are you even able to sit up and feed him like that?"

"I'm making it work," Bruce replied. Really, he thought, everyone should be a little more understanding of his hatred of drugs. And anyway, this was all nothing compared to the pain he'd felt in the pit, and he vividly remembered stumbling off of a cot he'd occupied there and attempting to perform a push up, all at the height of his pain. At least he was being a good boy and staying in bed this time around.

As if on cue, Selina walked back into the bedroom and went slightly wide eyed at the sight of Bruce feeding Thomas. "Why didn't you call me? You shouldn't be doing _anything_ right now, Bruce..."

"I'm not completely useless," Bruce protested. "I can hold Thomas without exerting myself."

Selina stood in front of the bed, crossing her arms and looking upon Bruce in disapproval. "Alfred's here, by the way."

"Good," Bruce said, "so you and Blake can go get started, and Alfred and I can take care of the kids."

Selina side-eyed Blake, and he gave her an equally appraising look. "Fine. I'll go change."

Once she had grabbed a change of clothes and had gone in the bathroom, Bruce dropped his voice low and gave Blake a look as he said, "Remember, go easy on her."

"No, Bruce, I'm gonna be ruthless," Blake said sarcastically. "You really think I'm gonna beat up a woman? Specifically _your_ woman? I don't think even the brace would keep you from killing me."

"No," Bruce agreed, "it wouldn't."

* * *

Selina felt ridiculous, standing outside on the back deck in sweats that did nothing to hide the fact that she was still lugging around almost all of her baby weight. Her hair was up in a knot, face pale under the island sun for lack of recent exposure, and Blake was standing in front of her in all of his bulked-up vigilante glory. In fact, he was bigger than she remembered him ever being, and for once, she really didn't think she could stand a chance against him.

Then she mentally shook her head and wondered where the hell that thought had come from. Of _course_ she could take him, even if she was far from at her peak. She was Selina Kyle. He was John Blake, forever a skinny and annoying cop in her mind, no matter his current status.

"I'm guessing Bruce told you to go easy with me," Selina said, cracking her neck.

"Yep."

"Not really much point in this if you do," Selina pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't really want to be murdered by Bruce Wayne because I roughed up his girlfriend. Fiancée, sorry."

"You're scared of a guy who's bedridden?" Selina asked incredulously. "No wonder Raven got sick of you."

Blake glared at her for a minute before his features softened and he laughed. "That's not gonna work. But nice try. Insult me all you want, see if it works."

Selina rolled her eyes, taking a few steps forward and leaning forward on the deck's wooden railing. Blake stood behind her as she looked out towards the bright horizon and said, "Really, why did she dump you? I want to know."

"You think I'm gonna tell you if I haven't even told Bruce?"

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "That embarrassing?"

"No. Just don't want to talk about it."

"The spark was gone... too many late nights alone... someone else?"

Blake's poker face remained intact. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Can you answer a simple question?"

"It's none of your business."

Selina grinned. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all - she felt a tiny spark of her usual self breaking through as she continued to needle Blake. "All right, fair enough. By the way, you may want to tie your shoes before we start."

"What -"

Blake had only glanced down for half a second before Selina sprang forward and kicked, knocking him off his feet and stumbling back on the deck. "Are you kidding me, Blake? You fell for that?"

He glared up at her as he regained his bearings. "Would it kill you to fight fair for five minutes?"

"Probably," she shrugged. "Now don't hold back."

"I-"

She shut him up with a blow to his jaw. Blake immediately realized he was very wrong to ever consider Bruce a brutal teacher, and glared at her as she smiled and motioned for him to come at her.

He finally responded then, and she started dancing around him the way she always had before, gracefully and with the ease of someone who had been fighting since an age far too young. But, as he swung and she ducked and deflected, he noticed that her reflexes were not what they used to be, as he expected. He took advantage of this, after she landed one too many annoying kicks to the backs of his knees.

He caught her fist one of the times it came flying at him, pulled her and twisted until he had her firmly in his grasp, her back to his chest. "Don't tell me you're losing your touch."

Blake released her, and she spun around, looking disgruntled. "Cocky doesn't look good on you."

Then it was her turn to strike, and he easily blocked her efforts, able to anticipate her moves now that he was better reacquainted with her style of fighting. "Better than predictable looks on you."

Blake managed to knock her off her feet with just some fancy footwork and a series of attacks that she lost her balance to avoid, grabbing hold of the railing to steady herself. Blake cocked an eyebrow at her. "I guess the Cat really did get domesticated."

This wasn't going as she'd planned, not by far. She was supposed to be the one on the offensive, the one doing the smack-talk, and yet here she was, effectively on the ropes, and feeling her ire rise at the man's taunting words. "Well, look who went ahead and found his balls. Did Raven give them back to you before she left?"

She kicked, he blocked, she tried to throw a fist one of his unprotected sides, he twisted quicker than she could hit. "Question is, where's Bruce keeping your claws?"

_God_, she thought, _the kid can be obnoxious when he wants to be_. Selina's irritation grew, and somehow she ended up right where she'd been a moment earlier, in his grip with her back to his chest. She gritted her teeth as he taunted, "You're really not making this challenging."

"Challenging," she repeated, raising her foot and bringing it down hard on his own, then using the brief moment of pain on his part to elbow his stomach and force him to release her with a grunt of pain. "Gotta give a girl a few minutes to warm up."

Then she was fighting with renewed purpose, and he was on the defensive. Soon she had him exactly where he'd had her, without the use of his arms and in her control as she took her chance to taunt him back. "Aw, what's a bird gonna do without his wings?"

Blake didn't mean to do what he did next - it was all reflex in a moment of frustration and forgetting exactly who he was fighting that caused his head to jerk backwards and hit her hard in the mouth. She released him instantly and fell, instantly tasting the unpleasant copper taste of blood in her mouth as she hit the ground.

Blake turned and looked down at her with a look of mild horror on his face, and she glared up at him as she wiped the blood from her bottom lip.

_Yeah_, he thought wildly to himself, _you're in deep shit now, genius_.

As Selina hit the concrete, she could feel something inside her mind snap, like a rubber band breaking. All of a sudden, an all-consuming rage from her inner turmoil, the absolute _shit_ she had been through lately, and the fact that she was getting her _ass_ kicked from a freaking _kid_ came to the surface with a fury.

But with this fury, made a disturbing calm come over her. She was cool, collected, and dominating. She was Catwoman, once again.

She slowly got up, well aware of the horrified look on Blake's face, and wiped the blood from her mouth, closing her eyes. As the throbbing in her lip faded, her eyes snapped open to glare at Blake, a vicious, animal-like gleam dancing in them.

Meanwhile, a spectator that neither were aware of brought her hand to her mouth, stifling as gasp as she continued to watch a fight she'd been quietly watching since almost the beginning.

* * *

Molly hadn't meant to spy - she had made her way over to Bruce and Selina's to deliver a fresh supply of muffins to Bruce, as well as have a talk with him that she'd bravely decided it was high time for. Then she'd heard voices on the deck and a rustling of movement, and curiosity had gotten the better of her.

She watched in fascination as the whole scene unfolded, seeing sides to the two people that she'd never seen before, her shock culminating when Selina hit the ground.

Then Selina got to her feet, and Blake stood his ground. There was a wild glimmer in her eyes, and her tone was dangerous as she purred menacingly in a way Molly had never heard before, "You think I've been declawed, huh?"

Blake looked like he wanted to run, but he didn't move. "I -"

"Don't apologize," she said, her whole body language different and utterly threatening as she walked slowly to him. "You know me, I like it rough."

For a very brief, very terrifying moment, Molly thought Selina was pouncing on Blake to kiss him, but instead they ended up a blur of hands and limbs as they began to fight rather ferociously. Molly watched transfixed, watching Selina as she ended things on her terms, leaving Blake with what would surely be at least one black eye as she pinned him to the ground and grinned down at him.

"What was that about being _domesticated_?" Selina said through heavy gasps, still grinning down at Blake.

"Yeah, I got it," he groaned. "Point made."

Molly backed away when Selina sprang off of him, making sure to quietly make her way to the front door. She let herself into the house, mind racing as she tried understand it all, but then she remembered her other reason for coming here, besides the basket of muffins under her arm.

Molly had been keeping a very close, very investigative eye on Selina, and she didn't let anything the woman did or said go unanalyzed. She'd also been reading up online about what she suspected Selina was suffering from, and she'd reached the point yesterday where she decided it was time to take action. Talking to Selina herself wasn't an option, as Molly knew her well enough to know how disastrously that would go over, so she had decided to share her concerns with Bruce.

As Molly's feet carried her to Bruce and Selina's bedroom, another worry started to cloud her already troubled mind. Who was Selina, really? Who was that person she'd just seen pounce on Helena's godfather like she wanted to kill him, with movements that were almost... what? Badass, yes, impressive too, but mostly... kind of feline. But how did that even make sense?

Molly burst into Bruce's room without knocking, and as Bruce jumped in surprise and widened his eyes at the sudden intrusion from his bed, Molly quickly stomped across the room and announced, "Okay, I've got a lot to tell you and a lot of questions, and you're going to listen, and then you're going to answer every single one."

She tossed the basket of muffins on his nightstand and then crossed her arms. He looked up at her, appearing completely bewildered. "What's going on?"

Molly faltered for a moment, not knowing where to start. "I... okay, I've got something really serious to talk to you about, but first, why are Selina and Blake trying to beat the crap out of each other outside?"

"They're... sparring," Bruce said calmly. "Blake and I usually do it but obviously I'm -"

"Okay, but what's going on out there isn't, like, kickboxing or friendly practicing or whatever - she's trying to kill him."

Bruce shook his head. "I'm sure she's -"

"And," Molly interrupted, "she said something about being declawed, whatever that means, but it wasn't the words that were weird - it was how she said it. I mean... I'm really confused right now."

"Confused about what?"

Molly paused for a second or two before blurting out, "Who the hell _are_ you people? I mean, _really_, who are you? I've known you guys forever now, it feels like, but I don't even know what you did for a living before you guys moved here. Selina told me that she used to be a thief, but what I just saw was kind of terrifying so I'm thinking she was a little more than that."

"Sit down," Bruce instructed quietly, motioning to the chair near his bed. When Molly hesitated, he repeated, "Sit."

She sighed and trudged to the chair. Once she was seated, Bruce said, "I'll tell you anything you want to know, answer any questions you have. But first I want to know what you need to talk to me about that's so important."

Molly's expression became less agitated and more dour then. "Yeah... that." She took a deep breath and glanced up to find Bruce waiting patiently for her to speak. "I don't really know how to start."

"Just blurt it out like you always do," Bruce said, his tone affectionate.

She half-snorted. "Yeah. Alright. Well, I've been noticing Selina acting weird lately. At first I didn't think a lot of it but she kept acting stranger and stranger. So I started looking some stuff up. And I'm pretty sure she's got post partum depression."

Molly watched carefully for Bruce's reaction. She would have understood denial, shock, anything besides how he did react. He looked away for a moment, took a breath, and then asked quietly, "Why?"

She took a deep breath herself and then launched into the speech she'd prepared in her mind. "Well, like I said, I've been reading a lot. I've been reading up on the signs, things to look out for, but a lot of it is how she acts with Thomas. I know you've been going through a lot yourself so you might not have noticed, or maybe you have, but she's... robotic with him. I mean, she takes great care of him, but when she looks at him, it's nothing like the way she looks at Helena. She doesn't hold him a second more than she has to. She doesn't really talk to him. She's always really irritable when he's awake. She's kind of always irritable now, but... anyway. Sorry, this is all kind of hard for me to say."

"Keep going."

She nodded. "It's in her eyes, too. I mean, when I look at you, I see how much you love Thomas just by your eyes. I can tell with Chris and the way he looks at Aidan. I can tell with Selina when she looks at Helena. But her eyes are dead with Thomas. It's like she's babysitting someone else's kid or something. Then there's just her general behavior. But it's all really understandable - she had a traumatic birth. She didn't get to see or hold him for hours after she woke up from surgery. Nursing didn't work out. It's like the perfect recipe for PPD, from what I've read."

When Bruce continued to silently process her words, staring ahead into nothing, Molly added, "Have you noticed any of this? Or other things?"

A bit to her relief, he nodded. "Yeah. She's been... different, ever since he was born."

Molly paused for a moment before going on. "I've been kind of sneaky about keeping an eye on her. I show up when she doesn't expect me, let myself in, you know, all of that kind of stuff, and a couple of times I could tell that she'd been crying right before I walked in." These words in particular, Molly noticed, seemed to have the same effect on Bruce's expression as a knife to his heart would have. "Have you seen or heard her crying?"

He shook his head miserably. "No."

Another moment passed. "I think she's a little irrational, too. I heard her mumbling to herself about how your surgery was her fault. I don't know how she came up with that."

Bruce sighed. "No, that's a long story."

Molly furrowed her brows for a minute, but decided to worry about that "long story" later. "The thing is, I'm not sure how to go about talking to her about all of this. I figured you'd be in a better position to know."

Bruce laughed hollowly. "I have no idea how to even approach the subject with her. Not without her shutting down and running away."

"Well, the longer she goes without doing anything about it, the harder it'll be to get through it. From what I've read. And you know why I think Thomas cries so much with her but acts perfect with everyone else? I read that babies can sense stress and anxiety. I think he can tell what she's feeling, and that's why he acts the way he does with her."

Bruce raised his eyes then and asked, "What do you do for this kind of thing? What kind of treatment?"

Molly shrugged, "Could be anything. Therapy, meds, stuff like that. I read though that sort of restructuring your lifestyle can help, like day to day life. Reducing stress, taking time for yourself. But I also read that just admitting it, and getting it out there, is a huge first step that can help a lot."

As Bruce nodded and troubled thoughts swirled through his head, Selina had begun making her way into the house after calling it a day with Blake. Alfred was feeding the kids lunch in the kitchen, and she briefly checked on them before heading to the bedroom to change.

She was angry still, though she felt a little better after getting herself into gear and remembering how to fight more like her normal self. But then she heard a familiar, feminine voice coming from her bedroom as she approached it, and her steps came to a stop as she paused to listen.

"... She's not the type of person to ask for help, or admit... anything like this," Bruce's voice said.

"Well," Molly said next, "she can't go on like this. Taking care of two kids, you, the shelter, trying to be supermom when she's really vulnerable right now - it's all too much, it'll blow up in her face if we don't do something."

Selina narrowed her eyes. What the _hell_ were they talking about?

"I just... I know that as soon as she hears the words 'post partum depression', she's going to be defensive, she'll shut down and put walls up - she won't take it well, Molly, you know that."

"Yeah, but we really can't afford to wait around here. This kind of thing is time sensitive, and..."

Selina didn't hear the rest of Molly's sentence. She'd gone cold and hot at the same time, her insides freezing as her face felt suddenly hot, her lungs lost of air, all of it feeling like one big kick to the stomach. Or maybe, more appropriately, a stab to the back.

So this is what Bruce, and her supposed best friend, thought of her. This is what they were doing, talking about her and her supposed emotional issues amongst themselves, instead of being adults and talking to her about it.

She let the words rattle through her head. _Post partum depression._ Her first reaction was to scoff and cling to an insistence that it was absurd, that someone like her wasn't vulnerable to such a thing. But then, ridicule gave way to fear. She had never known anyone with PPD before. She had no idea what it really was. Wasn't that what women had when they drowned their kids in the bathtub, then made dinner for their husbands like nothing ever happened? Or was that something else? It must be, because surely Bruce wouldn't think her capable of such a thing.

No, she was simply adjusting, dealing with the giant pile of crap that had been dumped on her lap in the last month, and why couldn't they see that? So she's not perfect for a little while, not performing cartwheels while vomiting sunshine and rainbows, and they instantly jump to the conclusion that she's psychologically impaired?

"Well, if you wanted," Molly said, "we could try to talk to her together. If you wanted to wait until you're feeling a little better -"

Anger kicked in, past the denial and the fear and the knots of anxiety in her gut. Selina halfway punched the door open and strode inside. "Why wait when I'm here now?"

Both pairs of eyes widened as they took her in and realized that she'd been listening outside. Selina came to a halt in the middle of the room, placing her hands on her hips and looking expectantly from Molly to Bruce. "Well?"

Molly stammered, "I'm... really sorry, Selina, I just -"

"Save it," Selina snapped. "Get out of my room."

"Selina," Bruce intoned, "don't -"

Her eyes snapped to Bruce and she quickly said, "No, Bruce. Don't. You're both idiots, you know that?"

Molly piped up, "It's just that we knew this was how you'd react, and -"

All Selina heard was the word _we_. "I said get out, Molly. Go."

Molly got up from her chair, her tone apologetic as she said, "I'm sorry, Selina, I just wanted to help and I didn't know how to talk to you about this."

"I don't care," Selina said flatly. "I really don't. But you know what? You just reminded me of why I don't have friends. So thanks, and go to hell."

Molly stared at her for a moment, utterly speechless, then looked to Bruce as her eyes welled with tears. He gave her a soft look that was meant to be apologetic and comforting, but Selina saw it and became even angrier looking. Molly then rushed out of the room, leaving them alone to stare at each other.

"So, you think I'm crazy."

Bruce shook his head. "No."

"You don't think it could possibly be that I'm overwhelmed, or that I've never been the maternal type anyway. You don't think it could be that maybe life just sucks sometimes."

"Selina, there is absolutely no shame in needing some help," Bruce said gently. "All I want to do is help you."

"Help me with what? Am I not taking care of the kids? Am I a bad mother? Am I letting you down, like I have been over and over ever since you met me?"

"No, Selina," Bruce said fiercely, "_no_. I want to help you be happy again."

It was too much, all of it. The way Bruce was looking at her, the gentle and cautious tone of his voice, the fact that she apparently wasn't as good an actress anymore as she used to be. Selina stared at him, suddenly wanting nothing more than to run as far away as possible, but she couldn't. There was nowhere to run to, and she couldn't leave her kids. She also couldn't leave Bruce, not even for a day or two, when he was stuck in bed and immobile thanks to her.

Being trapped was one of the worst feelings in the world. In that moment, she would have given anything to have her suit back on and be flitting across a rooftop or crouched in front of an "uncrackable" safe. Anything would have been better than standing there, being forced to watch Bruce look at her the way that he was.

"Selina."

His voice was just as bad. She shook her head. "No. I'm not doing this."

Selina turned on her heel and dashed out of there, passing Blake in the doorway, ignoring Bruce's protests. Blake watched her go and then glanced at Bruce as he walked into the room. "The hell happened?"

Bruce grimaced and then straightened up in the bed, and to Blake's astonishment, started trying to get up on his own. "Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?"

Blake was at his side rapidly, but Bruce brushed off his attempts to keep him in the bed. "I'm going after her."

"No, you're not - are you nuts?" Blake admonished.

Sharp, crippling pain shot up through Bruce's spine as he tried to stand. He couldn't stop himself from falling back into the bed, much to his rage. He cursed through the pain, and Blake continued to stare, looking bewildered.

"She's in trouble, John," Bruce said miserably, dropping his head back against the headboard. "She's in trouble and I have no idea how to help her."

* * *

In lieu of running, Selina had grabbed Helena from Alfred and retreated outside, to the beach. Thomas had fallen asleep in a bouncy seat, and she left him in Alfred's sight while she took Helena out.

She sat on the edge of the shore, her feet in the cool water, and watched her daughter as she ran around and picked up seashells. There were no shortage of fearful, even paranoid thoughts running through her head, but one of the prevailing ones continued to be guilt. Even despite the anger and the possibly unjustified sense of betrayal that she felt, she couldn't get over the damn guilt of feeling so much for Helena and so little for Thomas.

The thought of Thomas waking up soon, and of Alfred leaving for the day, made her stomach twist in dread. Knowing she'd have to face Bruce again made it twist into an even tighter knot.

Unexpectedly, Helena plopped herself down on Selina's lap, smiling brightly at her as she held out a shell in her little hand. Selina smiled and took it. "Thanks, baby."

Helena then leaned forward and gave Selina a big kiss, then said, "Nuh you, Mama."

Helena had just started saying that, her version of "I love you", only a few days ago. Selina smiled and hugged the little girl tightly. "I love you, too."

It came so easily with Helena. She'd been hooked from the first time those big hazel eyes had opened and met her own, from the sound of her first cries, and had only grown stronger as time went on. How in the world could she feel so much for one child, and so much of nothing for another?

_Because you were never meant to do this_, an annoying, poisonous voice whispered within her head. _You were never meant to be a mother. You should have known better._

* * *

When the day had turned to night, and Selina still refused to show her face, Bruce sat in the bed he had come to despise, and remembered something Molly had said earlier.

"John."

Blake looked up from his phone, sitting in the chair he'd been occupying for about an hour. "Yeah?"

"There's a book in my closet. It's black leather, on the top shelf on my side. Mind grabbing it for me?"

"Sure," Blake shrugged, getting up to his feet.

A moment or two later, Bruce took the book from Blake's hands, thanked him, and flipped it open as Blake sat back down.

It was a book that had been a gift from Selina last year, one that contained pictures that Molly had taken of Selina alone during their rather entertaining photoshoot a few months after Helena's birth. Selina had kept these particular photos a secret until Bruce's birthday, when she gave him the book, and he had enjoyed it as much as she had suspected he would. Now he was using the photos as a point of comparison.

In the black and white pictures, she was lying on their bed and dressed in one of his white shirts and black ties, unbuttoned and loosened in strategic ways, making for the most unabashedly sexy pictures he'd ever seen. It was all tasteful, none of them revealing too much, and in a way, they were a perfect analogy to Selina herself - feminine, passionate, strong and dangerous, tied up in a ribbon of class and confidence that was unrivaled in his eyes. But, he realized as he turned the pages, this was not the woman he was living with today.

Molly had been right about her eyes. Her eyes were all wrong now. They lacked all of the fire displayed openly within these photos, and were instead empty and vacant. It seemed so obvious now, and Bruce could have beaten himself for not seeing it sooner.

He really thought that they'd seen the worst and had overcome it together. Now was supposed to be, for lack of a more realistic term, the happily ever ever. He'd been so convinced of their own invincibility that he'd let her slip away from him, slowly but surely. All just in a matter of weeks.

He was ashamed that it had taken Molly to open his eyes fully.

He was silently drowning in his despair when his bedroom door opened, and to his surprise, Leslie and his hospital's chief lawyer walked inside. Alfred followed in behind them.

"Sorry about this, Bruce," Leslie said quickly. "But something's happened and you need to know about it."

He straightened up in bed, setting the photo album down, and Blake quietly vacated his chair so that Leslie could take it. "What's going on?" Bruce asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, first of all, were you aware that our friend Dr. Inessa Aleksandrov went to work for the competition the very day after you fired her?"

"She resigned, technically," Bruce said. "But no, I wasn't aware of that."

"Well," Leslie said, "she did, and today she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against you."

The lawyer then handed Bruce a small stack of papers, and Bruce took it without taking his wide eyes off of Leslie.

"There's some pretty sordid details in there," she sighed. "It's not pretty."

"It's all bullshit," Bruce said, his tone now a growl, flipping through the papers. "I don't understand. She followed me around for months like a lost pet, this makes no sense. Whitestone must be putting her up to this."

"Well, either way, you've got a PR nightmare on your hands until we can get the suit thrown out."

Bruce set his jaw tight and tossed the papers down. "This is outrageous. She kissed me - I never..."

Bruce's voice faltered when he followed Leslie's suddenly averted gaze to the doorway, where true to Bruce's luck, Selina stood with her arms crossed. He stared at her blankly, suddenly realizing he'd never told her about the kiss. He honestly hadn't even thought about it once since his accident, and this was certainly not how he wanted her to find out.

But it was too late, of course. Selina walked away without a word before Bruce could say anything to her. Leslie and the lawyer went on to politely talk as if nothing had happened, and Bruce half-listened, sharing a miserable look with Alfred as they informed him just how much more difficult his life was about to get.

**A/N: so, finally a nice big fat chapter after a series of relatively little ones :) besides my usual love and thanks for the amazing reviews and feedback, I would like to assure everyone that the angst doesn't have too much more to go before things can start getting happy again :) of course, PPD doesn't get better overnight, but as far as the hardcore-misery, there isn't a whole lot more of that to endure. But I thank everyone for continuing to stick with me through the ups and downs of the story, and I've got a LOT of awesomeness planned for the future! Speaking of which, my usual thanks to midnightwings96, who continues to be responsible for this story staying awesome and not getting dull, rambly, or boring, plus helped me revise and improve parts of this chapter and wrote a bit herself, so big huge thanks :D I love you all! **


	27. Chapter 27

Blake wasn't the kind of guy to stick around somewhere when he knew he was getting in the way of people who were doing their best to stay afloat. Things between Bruce and Selina were the most tense he'd ever seen, and though he would have gladly helped them in any way he could, he knew that cutting his visit short was the best thing he could do for them. Clearly, they needed to talk and hash things out, and it wasn't going to happen while he was hanging around.

He threw his travel bag over his shoulder early one morning, only two days after his arrival, and headed for the front door of their house. He'd told Bruce last night that he had decided to leave early, and Bruce agreed with the wisdom of that choice. Blake felt pretty bad for the guy, stuck in bed and talking to his lawyers all day while his fiancée barely spared him a second glance. And even though she'd left Blake with a black eye and fairly wounded pride, he felt bad for Selina too.

He wasn't expecting to find her sitting out on the front porch as he he stepped out into the warm, pre-dawn morning. It was barely 5 AM, but maybe now that he thought of it, it would have been more surprising had she been actually sleeping. Even he could tell she wasn't getting much slumber these days.

"Leaving already?" she asked, not bothering to glance behind her. She was sitting on the top step, dressed in light, loose clothes, staring out into nothing.

"Yeah," he said, setting his bag down and sitting beside her on the step. "You guys look like you need your space right now."

"I don't think space is the problem," she muttered.

He glanced at her then, able to see even now the lack of life in her eyes. The only time during his stay that he'd seen a spark in those formerly fiery brown eyes was when she'd been beating the crap out of him. "I don't know what's all going on with you guys," he said, "but whatever it is, you guys need to face it head on. Together."

"Kind of hard to do when we're both still keeping secrets from each other. Even after all this time."

"Yeah, but you've got kids now. And they didn't ask to have you guys for parents. So you both gotta suck it up for their sakes."

She looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her pale face. "Since when are you qualified to dole out the parenting and relationship advice?"

Blake shrugged. "I'm not. But Raven left me again because she doesn't see how we could ever raise a family together, with me doing what I do. Even if I get out of it someday."

"She didn't think of that until now? You guys have been together for a couple years."

"Yeah. We had a... scare. She thought she was pregnant and she started panicking. Hardcore panicking. Turned out to be a false alarm, but the damage was done. Anyway... if you guys can't make it work, then she's right, and she made the right call. And I don't want that to be true."

"Just because we're having these problems doesn't mean you and her would. Every couple has problems, just not the same 's why I spent my whole life avoiding relationships."

"Do you regret all of this?"

She pursed her lips. "If you're expecting me to say that I regret Bruce or my kids..."

"No, I don't expect that."

She took a breath. "I do regret the timing. I let things move too fast and now I'm buried under it all. And I'm dragging Bruce down with me. Like I always do."

"You know he only wants to help you. Whatever's going on, he doesn't hold it against you."

"He never does," she replied with a hollow smile. "That makes it even worse. No matter what I do, or what I say, he just... takes it all. And sometimes I hate that. If he'd just lose it and scream at me, tell me that he hates me and blame me for everything, I almost think that would be better."

Blake looked down at his feet for a moment before replying, "Are you listening to yourself right now? Do you even realize how messed up that is?"

She shrugged. "I've never claimed to have it together. Every time I start to think I might, something happens to show me how wrong I am."

"It's Thomas, isn't it?" Blake guessed. "Bruce hasn't said a word to me, but you're having problems with him, aren't you?"

She didn't answer. But her silence was as good as a confirmation.

"You're a good mother," Blake admitted. "And there was a time where I never would have thought I'd say that. But you are. Even if you're struggling right now."

She shook her head just barely, just enough to give away how little she believed his words. "You know, kid, this might come as a shock, but you don't actually know everything."

He half-smirked. "I figured out that Bruce Wayne was Batman by watching him fake a smile. And I knew something was up with you as soon as I saw you the other day. I actually do know a lot. And I know that if you really want to, you'll get past whatever's holding you back. You always get what you want. Not all of us have the same knack."

He started to get up then, and as he grabbed his bag up from the porch, she asked without raising her eyes, "Are you gonna try to get her back?"

He slung the bag over his shoulder and paused, glancing out at the sun as it rose in the dark sky by the tiniest of slivers. "She made it seem pretty... permanent when she left."

"You're pretty persistent," Selina noted.

He shrugged. "I don't know that it's gonna be enough this time."

"One way to find out."

He nodded, tightening his grip on his bag's strap. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"Yeah, kid. Try not to get anymore black eyes."

"Yeah, I plan on staying away from cats."

Selina watched him go, then looked up at the sun as it continued to slowly rise. She wasn't relieved that he was gone. His absence simply took away one of the buffers enabling her to keep Bruce at arm's length, and she suspected that was the point.

* * *

Over the next week, Bruce dealt with the headaches that came with lawsuits and the lawyers that made them even worse. He and his lawyer talked strategy and discussed how to handle the situation before the public until they were blue in the face, and meanwhile, Alfred helped Bruce regain a bit of mobility. He couldn't lift anything heavier than Thomas and he couldn't walk farther than the length of his bedroom without huffing and puffing in pain, but it was something.

Selina, meanwhile, took care of the kids and the house and tried to keep to herself, though she did inform the lawyer about the nurses she'd overheard discussing Dr. Aleksandrov's advances, for the sake of gaining a few witnesses on Bruce's side. She told the lawyer this in front of Bruce, ignoring the bewildered look on his face as he realized that she'd known about the kiss since the day it happened.

When Inessa held a press conference about the lawsuit, flanked by an extremely high-profile female attorney who specialized in such suits as well as her new employer, Bruce watched it on TV from his bed and was stunned at how blatantly Douglas Whitestone was inserting himself into the situation. His lawyer and Alfred watched it alongside him, all of them cringing as Inessa fake-cried and spouted false details of encounters that never happened. Bruce still couldn't understand her motivation. She didn't need the money, and she certainly wasn't seeking justice, so he could only assume she was doing this as retribution for his rejections.

Selina watched from a separate room, one part of her wanting desperately to go and be with Bruce as his name got dragged through the mud, and the other wanting to remain distanced and disconnected. They hadn't shared a full conversation since the day she caught Molly talking to Bruce about her "concerns", but she wouldn't have been able to stay away if not for the fact that he had been confined to their bed the whole time. Now that he was able to get around a bit more, she knew those days would be coming to an end soon.

She hated living this way, and he hated it even more. Even Alfred was getting sick of their crap, and every time she'd pass him in a hallway or hand him a cup of coffee, he'd give her that disapproving eye of his that made her feel like she was a ten year old jerk.

It was on the same day of that press conference, after the lawyer had left and Alfred had gone into town to pick up some groceries for them, that Selina had slipped into her bedroom after getting both of the kids down for naps to get a few precious moments to herself in the bathroom, made all the more possible by Bruce apparently taking a nap following the dismal press conference.

She washed her face and brushed her hair, frowned at her reflection that still just didn't look right in her opinion, and gasped lightly in surprise when she opened the bathroom door and almost ran into Bruce's chest.

It felt as if it had been forever since she'd seen him standing at his full height. "Sorry, I... should you be out of bed like this?"

"I could use your help," he admitted, and she quickly offered her arm for him to lean on.

"What do you need?"

"Just wanted to see you, to be honest," he replied.

"Okay, well... let's get you back into bed and then you can see me without straining yourself," Selina said, guiding him back to the bed he hated.

Once he was back in the bed, she turned to go switch off the bathroom light, and he took that as her trying to leave before he had the chance to say two more words to her.

She felt a hand grab hers and pull her back. She looked down at him and asked, "What?"

"Don't run away again," he said softly.

"I was just going to turn off the light," she said, deciding to leave it for now and sitting down on the bed, at his side. His grip on her hand loosened, and she pulled away from it entirely.

"Selina," he said, still in his quiet tone, "we need to talk about what happened the other day."

"There really isn't anything to talk about," she replied automatically.

"There's a lot to talk about," he replied.

"No, there isn't, and you know why?" she asked, looking him in the eye. "After all this time, we still keep things from each other because we don't want to burden each other. I don't think we'll ever stop being that way."

"We need to," Bruce muttered. "We can't be married and still acting like this. Eventually it blows up in our faces like it did last week."

"Well, you're the one who's always been so hellbent on marriage, not me."

Bruce stared at her as she looked away and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She didn't say anything, opting to stare out towards their glass doors, as if there was something particularly fascinating out there.

"You know, Selina, I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do. If you're only marrying me to appease me, then I don't want to get married at all. If you got pregnant for me, and had Thomas for me, you should have known that as much as I wanted one more baby, I never would have asked you to sacrifice your happiness."

She looked at him then, confused, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you regret having him?"

Selina gritted her teeth and stood up. "I'm not dignifying that with an answer."

She all but tore out of the room then, and Bruce, being sick and tired of her running away every time a conversation got a little bit uncomfortable, swung his legs off the bed and began the slow and painful process of getting up by himself.

Meanwhile, Selina began walking aimlessly down the hall, deciding to head to the kitchen for no particular reason. She was sick of these questions, first from Blake and now Bruce, all implying that she regretted her son's existence. She might not be at her best right now but she wasn't someone who regretted her own child's birth. After all, Thomas had been entirely her choice, a result of her actions. His conception was deliberate, unlike Helena's, and she would not falter on her responsibility as the person who made his existence possible. That was why she took exemplary care of him, even if she still had yet to feel any real sort of bond to him.

As soon as she reached the kitchen, she decided to turn back and be an adult and finish her conversation with Bruce. She needed to set the record straight.

But a flash of jet black out of the corner of Selina's eye made her do a double take into the kitchen. Her eyes widened and then immediately rolled impressively far into her head when she realized what, or who, had caught her attention.

"You never look happy to see me anymore," Eric observed with a grin, lounging casually at her kitchen table, as if it was a perfectly normal thing for Selina to walk into her kitchen and find him there unannounced. "Honestly. I'm hurt."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "What are you doing here, Eric?"

"I heard you had another little one," he replied. "Had to come see for myself. You look lovely, as always."

She laughed out loud at that one. She was dressed in an old, baggy t-shirt and equally boring shorts, her hair was in it's usual knot on the back of her head, and if she was being honest, her face hadn't seen a drop of makeup in weeks. And, as the cherry on top, her baby weight was still refusing to give way by so much as a pound.

By contrast, Eric was as stunning as ever. His black hair was a little shorter than it had been last time, not quite to his shoulders, and he was dressed in a dark green button-down shirt and black pants. His green eyes still smiled at her like they always had, and somehow, just looking at him made her feel even worse about herself.

"You can save the bullshit compliments," she replied. "Really. I have no illusions about myself at this point in time."

He stood up from the table, and he remained the only man she'd ever met who was taller than Bruce. "Did you develop some rare eye disease since I saw you last? Because that is preposterous."

She shook her head. "Nope. Just had another baby and wrecked my body again."

"Well," he shrugged, coming closer, "I wouldn't kick you out of bed."

"How reassuring," she quipped as he pulled her into a hug. She accepted his embrace, breathing his familiar scent that never changed with time, but it wasn't comforting. It reminded her of a time when she was young and as carefree as a master thief could afford to be. It reminded her of those dreams that still crept up on her from time to time, the ones where she was her old self again in her old suit, the ones that only made her feel worse when she would awaken.

When Eric drew back his held her by her forearms, asking with a smile, "So how are you? How's the family?"

"We're fine," Bruce's voice answered, and they both turned to see him walking slowly down the hall towards them. Eric dropped his hands, Selina inwardly braced herself for another battle of egos like the one that had occurred the last time these two were in the same room.

"Ah, Bruce," Eric said genially, like he was greeting an old friend as he extended his hand for Bruce to shake. "How are you? And what on earth is that contraption you're wearing?"

"Back brace," Bruce replied, playing along and shaking the man's hand. "Car accident."

"Sorry to hear," Eric replied.

"What brings you here?" Bruce asked, sparing Selina a glance that lasted about a quarter of a second.

"Oh, like last time, I was in town and thought I'd drop by," Eric shrugged. "I hear there's been another new addition to the family."

"Yeah. Little boy this time."

Selina watched in slight disbelief as the two men carried on, perfectly polite and pleasant, and for a brief, possibly paranoid moment, she wondered if Bruce had arranged for Eric to come here as some sort of convoluted test or something.

"All right, well," Bruce finally said, "I'll leave you two to catch up. I'll be catching up on some work if you need me, Selina."

She nodded, but as Bruce turned and started heading back down the hall, she caught a glimpse of the loathing and instinctual jealousy in his eyes that assured her of his lack of involvement in Eric's sudden appearance. It had been an absurd idea anyway.

Outside of the window above the kitchen sink, Selina caught a glimpse of Alfred's head as he made his way towards the front door. She didn't want to deal with him right now, especially not while Eric was around, so she quickly suggested, "Let's take a walk."

* * *

They walked along the beach under the autumn sun, barefoot and exchanging stories, effortlessly picking up where they'd left off the last time they'd seen each other. Selina told him about her harrowing ordeal giving birth to Thomas, Eric told her about a recent misadventure of his in Spain, and Selina found herself genuinely laughing for the first time in weeks.

She fell silent only as they walked past Molly's house. She had ignored the blonde's texts steadily over the last week, still furious at her, and she didn't plan on accepting any of her apologies anytime soon. But that left a huge gap in her every day life that had been filled by Molly and her contagious, bubbly self, and without her, getting through the day was even harder.

"Are you all right, Selina?" Eric asked, breaking the brief silence. "I mean, _really_ all right."

She already felt herself withdrawing, retreating back into her mind at his question. Every conversation with everyone always came back to this, apparently. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I swear, Eric, if I have to hear this from you, too, I'm actually going to scream."

"Come on, Selina," he said gently, while they continued to walk slowly through the warm sand. "You forget how well I know you."

She sighed and muttered, "Fine, I'll get this part over with fast. Yes, I had a hard time adjusting after I almost died giving birth to my son. Then Bruce... the accident aggravated an injury of his that I was ultimately responsible for him having in the first place. Also, the day that he had the accident, I overheard some nurses talking about this skanky Russian bitch psychiatrist putting the moves on him in his office. He didn't say a word to me about it. Still hasn't, really. And now she's suing him for sexual harassment. Held a press conference and everything. Anyway, my point is, yes, things suck right now, and I'm not happy."

It was the first time she'd said the words out loud, and now that she'd finally admitted it to somebody, it was a small but noticeable weight off of her shoulders.

Eric absorbed her words, then replied, "I'm not trying to pry or analyze you. Don't get me wrong. It's just that I knew something was off when I first saw you today. It's your eyes. I've never seen them so empty."

She didn't like hearing his words, but she knew full well how true they were. "Molly went behind my back to tell Bruce how she thinks I've got post partum depression."

"Do you?"

She gave him a side-glare. "How would I know?"

He shrugged. "You could always get some help, see if that's what's going on. There's no use in trying to go it alone when you don't have to."

Selina laughed. "Yeah. That would be fun. No therapist would believe half of what I'd have to tell them."

"Why not?"

Selina paused then, having almost forgotten how little Eric knew about the last few years of her life and of Bruce's identity. "I don't know. Just... you know how it is. And anyway, I have no interest in getting doped up on anti-depressants."

"Yes, you never were one for admitting when you needed help," Eric mused. "That much may never change."

He looked over to her, and he positively couldn't stand to see her looking so dour anymore. He stopped walking and took her hand. "Hey. Let's not talk about this anymore. Why don't we go back to your house and play with your babies and just... try to have fun? How's that sound?"

"If you're all right with Bruce breathing down your neck the whole time," Selina grinned.

"He seemed much more pleasant this time around," Eric pointed out. "Perhaps there's hope for us yet."

"Yeah," Selina snorted, "sure. You should have seen what he did after the last time he saw you."

"Do tell," Eric grinned, following her back to the house.

"Not a chance."

"Oh, come on."

"Nope."

* * *

Bruce did intend to give them their space for the day. If seeing an old friend - he was focusing on the friendly aspect of their past relationship and not the other part, for the sake of his sanity - made her feel better, helped her in any way, then that was all he wanted for her. But, try as he may, when the sounds of laugher started flowing through the house, he could no longer concentrate on the work he was trying to do on his laptop.

"Something bothering you, sir?" Alfred asked from his usual place at Bruce's bedside.

"Nope, not at all," Bruce muttered, typing rapidly. "I like listening to the sounds of my fiancee's ex-lover playing with my kids. Very soothing."

"It was very generous of you to let him in the house at all."

"I didn't," Bruce replied. "He let himself in. And at this point, if he can help pull her out of whatever's going on with her, then I'm all for it."

"I know the feeling."

Bruce looked up at Alfred, a shadow of hopelessness in his hazel eyes. "I thought that having things out in the open would help. I thought she'd start talking to me about what she's feeling. But she keeps pulling further and further away, Alfred, and I have no idea what to do. And I'm sick of having no idea what to do."

The sound of Helena's exuberant laughing and Eric's loud accented voice egging her on broke Bruce's resolve completely, and he slammed the laptop shut before tossing it halfway across the bed.

"Would you like me to go and ask him to leave?" Alfred offered.

Bruce shook his head. "No. But help me up. I'm not hiding in here any longer."

He ended up regretting the decision. After Alfred helped him to his feet and also assisted in getting a shirt on over his brace, Bruce walked slowly out of the room and down the hall, and when they came into view, he found himself frozen and unable to look away from what he was seeing.

They were in the living room, sitting next to one another on the couch, Thomas in Selina's arms as she fed him, and Helena on Eric's lap. He was doing some sort of magic tricks with her, and she was beyond delighted, clapping and laughing loud enough to fill up the whole house with the sound. Selina looked more at ease than she had since longer than Bruce could remember, but the worst came when Eric leaned over and said something to her. Whatever it was, it made her laugh - a full, unforced laugh, the kind that Bruce hadn't heard out of her mouth since before Thomas was born. And she kept laughing.

Bruce took a few steps back, and kept going until he was back in his bedroom. Alfred was still there, tidying up more out of very old habit than necessity, and he watched as Bruce sunk back down into bed with a glazed look in his eyes.

"I take it you didn't like what you saw."

Bruce didn't say a word. Instead, he stewed and fumed in utter silence, feeling like he was stuck behind a huge brick wall that he kept scaling only to fall back down and have to start all over again.

* * *

As stubborn as Bruce was, he couldn't hide in his room forever. He was starving by the end of the night, and since Alfred saw his hiding as childish and wouldn't enable it by bringing him food, Bruce was forced to venture out into the rest of the house after most of the noise had died down.

He found the living room and kitchen empty save for Eric, who was, unexpectedly, doing a load of dishes.

"Where's Selina?" Bruce asked, getting the other man's attention as he walked into the kitchen.

"Getting the little ones to sleep," Eric said, turning the sink off and grabbing a towel to dry his hands. "And here I thought you had decided to hide for the duration of the night."

"I was working," Bruce lied. He peered into a pot on the stove and found some kind of stew to be in it. He stomach growled in agreement with the aroma of the food. "And everyone sounded perfectly happy without me. Helena seems to be pretty taken with you."

"She's a wonderful little girl," Eric smiled. "You should be very proud."

"I am," Bruce muttered, a bowl in one hand as he used the other to feel around in a drawer for a large spoon to scoop the stew with. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all."

"Why do you keep showing up here?"

Bruce's tone and expression were serious. Eric paused but eventually replied, "In my line of work, you don't come across very many good people. She was one of the very few that I did. I've always valued her friendship."

Bruce tossed the now-full bowl into the microwave over the stove and chuckled sarcastically. "Just her friendship?"

"You being the jealous type," Eric replied, "I'm sure it burns you up to see me within a hundred miles of your family. But you're wasting your energy."

"You come in my house," Bruce said in a low tone, turning fully towards the other man, "you hold and play with my children. You spend the day with my fiancée and make her laugh like I haven't heard her laugh since before my son was born. You do this as a man that I only know as a thief and Selina's old lover. What do you _expect_ me to do?"

"I expect you to know your fiancée well enough to understand that she has given herself to you wholeheartedly. And that leaves no room for any other man to even compete for her attention."

"Yeah? Then why is she herself with you and not me?" Bruce challenged. "Why does she spend every minute of the day avoiding me, but yet then you come waltzing in, and it's like a switch gets flipped and she's fine."

Eric laughed a hollow, sad laugh. "She is not fine. Not by any means. And I'll tell you why she acts with you in the way that you claim. I have never, in all the years that I've known her, heard her speak so highly of another human being. It's almost reverent, the way she speaks of you. She knows she's depressed, she admitted it to me today. And she feels as if she's failing you by feeling as she does. So she resorts to doing what she's done best most of her life. She runs away, because it's easier than facing you."

"... She said she feels like she's failing me?" Bruce asked quietly.

"No, she didn't say it. But it's obvious. And I won't even get into her guilt over Thomas."

Bruce couldn't believe he was saying the next words that came out of his mouth, and he especially couldn't believe that he was saying them to Eric of all people. "What should I do? I... I have no idea how to fix this."

"That's because you can't," Eric replied frankly. "She's not a broken piece of material that you personally can place back together."

"I know."

Eric sighed, leaning against the sink. The microwave beeped, the stew long forgotten inside of it. "But if I were you, I would hold her close and I would not let her go. Her instinct is to run. It's always to run, probably always will be. Don't let her get to that point."

Bruce thought over the other man's words, his eyes serious as he asked, "Do you think she's close to that?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure you'd rather not find out."

"Yeah," Bruce sighed. His back was protesting against him being on his feet this long, but he was ignoring it for the time being.

"This was a good talk," Eric said, sounding a bit surprised. "I thought you came out here to beat my teeth in."

Bruce didn't laugh or chuckle at this. He just continued to stare forward, looking sad and blank. "I've definitely fantasized about different ways that I could kill you. Some of them are pretty creative."

The lack of humor in Bruce's voice would have terrified a lesser man, but Eric merely smirked. "I'm sure. And yet you've tolerated my presence here today for her sake. Proves you're not a total wanker."

Bruce nodded lightly. Then he seemed to remember why he'd come out here in the first place and grabbed his food out of the microwave, then turned to Eric and said, "Thanks, I guess."

Eric smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

Bruce ate his late dinner in silence after sending Alfred home for the night. Afterwards he went about his usual routine before bed, barely aware of his own actions for how lost in thought he was, and by the time he turned off the lights and retreated under the covers, it was half an hour past when Selina would have usually come to bed.

He laid awake until he heard her gently open the door and pad inside, but he stayed still when she climbed into bed beside him. He wondered if she'd just drift off to sleep or if she'd try to talk to him before, like she used to. Before, this time was always important for them, those precious quiet moments at the very end of the day, reserved for hushed talking or other, equally important, things. Lately, though, she either came to bed after he was asleep or gave him a peck on the lips before turning over and falling asleep.

He wasn't surprised to feel her face away from him and fall still. But, surprised or not, tonight, he couldn't handle it. He refused to let the day end this way.

The thing was, he didn't want to talk. Talking would lead to fighting, and fighting would lead to a night of restless sleep and a crappy day tomorrow. That left him with few options.

With effort and strain that he still wasn't used to, Bruce shifted until he was partially on his side, and after moving a bit closer to Selina, he reached out to her. She didn't move when his fingers touched her side under the sheets, and she remained stone-like when his body pressed lightly against hers. At first he thought that she couldn't be asleep already, but then as his hand trailed down closer to her hip, she suddenly jerked and rapidly turned on her back, looking up at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked, blinking. He knew why she was asking - he was in pain in this position and couldn't hold it much longer, and she knew it. "Bruce -"

He cut her off with a kiss. It wasn't soft or sweet, but demanding and pleading at the same time, and she was caught off guard by the sheer need of it. He quickly maneuvered off of his side and moved on top of her, which was only marginally more comfortable, but right now he didn't care. He deepened his kiss, stealing her breath and taking her hands in his before placing them on either side of her head.

"Bruce," she gasped when he broke away for just one brief, gulping moment. Then he was on her again, kissing her hard enough to kill any protests that may have tried to escape her throat.

"Please don't make me stop," he breathed in between a few particularly rough kisses. But he could feel her resistance under the surface, and he could feel that she would indeed make him stop soon.

Instead of pushing him away, however, Selina pushed him up and off of her, settling him back against the bed in his usual, comfortable position, and then climbed atop him. He pulled her close and resumed the furious kissing, though it didn't last nearly as long as he'd hoped before she was forcing them apart.

"Bruce," she panted, hands on his chest over the straps of his brace. "What's wrong?"

"Does something have to be wrong for me to want you?" he asked, pulling her back down.

She resisted, staying upright. "No, but..."

"Shhh," he whispered, wrapping his hand behind her neck and bringing her down swiftly, capturing her lips hard and passionate.

She was dressed only in her underwear and an oversized shirt, one that he thought had been his at some point, and she didn't stop him from running his hands down her body and under the thin material. She wasn't responding like she used to, but she wasn't fighting him either.

He didn't know what he was trying to prove. On some level it was just need resurfacing after weeks of suppression, but on another, he suspected that he simply had to prove to himself that even with as disconnected as they presently were, this aspect of their relationship would always be there. Surely this, the physical connection, would remain when the others were suffering.

But, it seemed, it wasn't.

None of her signals were there. She was going through the motions, but her head wasn't there. It was a caricature of even their most casual, routine nights together, and Bruce couldn't take it.

He pulled away from her, looking up steadily into her eyes in the darkness.

"What?" she asked in a whisper.

He shook his head. "Nothing." He ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear, and smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "You're tired. I'm sorry."

"No, it's - I'm fine," she insisted.

He shook his head again and gently eased her back to her side of the bed. "It's fine, Selina."

Then it was his turn to angle himself away from her and end the night as it had began - with a thousand miles of distance and unspoken words between them, unresolved questions and frustrations, and some of the most uncomfortable silence that two people could experience.

For her part, Selina felt like she'd just experienced some of the strangest whiplash in the world - being woken up with hard, passionate kisses, then finding herself alone and back on her side of the bed just as abruptly and unexpectedly. She remained where she was, half-laying and half-sitting up, her eyes fixed on the back of Bruce as she struggled with letting the night end as is or reaching out to him.

The thing that she hated, though, was the fact that when he'd removed her from his lap and pushed her aside, she'd felt relieved. And that was terrifying on a whole other level.

Eventually, she made herself move closer to him. Her fingers threaded through his hair, hair that needed to be cut soon, and brushed it away from his face as she looked down upon it. "Bruce."

His eyes were open, staring purposelessly, and after a moment he shifted on to his back, turning his gaze up to hers. She continued to run her fingers through his hair, and his voice was quiet but strained as he said, "I don't know what to do, Selina."

She didn't have to ask what he meant by that. He brought a hand to her cheek, his thumb running over her soft skin, and he murmured, "I love you."

"I know. And I love you too," she replied softly.

"I _miss_ you."

Something within her froze, turned to ice and broke away at those words. There was so much sadness and confusion packed into those three simple words, and she couldn't think of a thing to say back. She could have assured him that there was no need to miss her when she was right there, but it would have been a lie. For a moment she thought about echoing his sentiments. She missed herself as much as he did.

The air became thick with tension quickly, and Selina suddenly wished that Thomas would start crying and give her a reason to run away. But there was nothing in the house besides silence, nothing to do but stay where she was, and it was unbearable. So she decided to try for a distraction.

She brought her lips to his neck, hoping she could reignite the need that he'd showered her with only moments ago, and did her best to make him take his mind off of the myriad of issues between them. She kissed him there until she felt his pulse quicken just enough under her lips, and then she kissed his mouth, her efforts fervent and determined. Just as he'd tried to prove something to himself moments earlier, she tried to prove the exact same thing to herself.

She thought that she was doing well, pleased with herself when his hands on her hips tightened as one of hers trailed down his chest, over his stomach and over the hardness trapped within his pajama pants.

His breath hitched as she rubbed him slowly, and she thought she was fine until Bruce, who never could seem to take without giving back, tried to find her with one of his own hands. She shifted her hips every time he got too close, angled herself away and increased the speed of her own efforts in attempts to distract him.

It didn't work. He caught on to her, and in a display of surprising strength, Bruce grabbed her hand and forced it off of him and had her on her back, pinned beneath him in one fluid movement.

She didn't know how he managed it in his condition, and she knew as soon as his mouth began devouring hers that she was screwed. She couldn't stop his hands this time, and within a moment of his fingers reaching her core, he broke off the kiss and stared down at her.

She felt like a child caught in a lie, exposed under eyes that looked pained but not surprised at her utter lack of any evidence of arousal. Her pupils weren't even dilated, and the rest of her was just as dead.

"What were you going to do, fake it?"

The words were laced with more bitterness than she expected. "I just wanted to take care of you."

His jaw was set hard, and his tone desperate as he replied, "I'm losing you. I really am losing you, Selina, aren't I?"

She said nothing. She said nothing as he rolled off of her, nothing as his breath started coming in and out of his nose so loudly that she thought he might have been fighting tears, and she said nothing as Thomas began crying from his room, affording her the escape she could have used ten minutes ago.

Neither of them slept at all that night.

**A/N: ... so, before you all throw your hands up and decide to give up on this story for the sake of your own sanity, let me assure you that the next chapter is pivotal, and all the angst it took to get there will be worth it. I promise! Anyway, now that I've dumped a huge amount of pressure on myself, can I just say that 28 reviews for the last chapter is amazing! Especially since the BatCat fandom is considerably slower than it was before, it makes me even happier that so many of you still follow this and even deal with the misery I've been injecting into the last like seven chapters. So, in short, you're all amazing and I love you. Keep sticking with me, because happier times (and even some pretty hilarious stuff, eventually) are ahead :D and thanks to midnightwings96 as always! **


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Sticking the note at the top today lol... once again, thank you to everyone who continues to stick with this story, even if some of you aren't particularly happy about it at the moment, lol, but hopefully this update will help make up for what I've been putting all of you through. 42 reviews(!) for one chapter is incredible, and I appreciate the honesty you've all used in giving feedback. I know that a few of you felt as if the angst is/was getting dragged out unnecessarily, but since the beginning of this sequel, I've had this particular part of the story in mind more than any other so far. I actually tried to condense it somewhat without rushing through it at the same time lol, but in any case, I'm excited to have gotten to this point because this is one of those chapters I've been dying to write for months. Actual months lol. So hopefully it lives up to what I had in my head :) Oh, and there was a question in one of the reviews of how old Thomas is, and in this chapter he's about one and a half months old. Anywho, my usual big thanks to midnightwings96, and to all of you who continue to read and review! :D (this thing's almost to 600 reviews! Daaaang :p)**

In the following weeks, Bruce got his time that he had to be in the back brace reduced to certain amounts of hours in the day as opposed to every waking second. He also began physical therapy, which didn't come close to satisfying his urge to throw himself back into fitness full-force, but he was trying hard this time to do it right and heal correctly.

Selina's six-week postnatal appointment came and went with little fanfare, and in the same week, Thomas was cleared to be taken off his oxygen for good. It was a huge milestone for the little boy, one that his doctor didn't expect him to clear until a month or so later, but he was a fighter and already an expert at exceeding expectations.

While the family was better physically than they had been in months, the other side of the coin remained a different and self-repeating story. Work provided welcome distractions and exhaustion allowed little of the uncomfortable conversations that Selina came to despise so much, but it only went so far.

When Selina went into town, whether it be for work or for picking up a new outfit for one of the kids, she heard whispers about the latest gossip on the hot-button sexual harassment suit that everyone was obsessed with for some reason. She'd walk in silence and anonymity, listening to others laughing about the situation that was adding new gray hairs to Bruce's head day by day, and she'd keep walking. There was nothing else to do, unless she happened to come across the Russian bitch herself, in which case the gloves would be coming off. Until that day came, and until Bruce's lawyers could get the case dismissed, she got to hear town busybodies debating the details of Inessa's tales, and as false as they were, the images burned in her mind until she couldn't take it anymore.

It was one of those days, after picking up dinner on her way home, that she returned to their island to find Bruce nailing wooden boards over the windows in their living room. Helena was trying to help him, wielding a pink toy hammer of her own, and Thomas was in his swing, transfixed by a stuffed monkey hanging from the swing's toy bar. A pile of more wood was against the wall, and she heard more hammering coming from the other side of the house.

She set her bags down, dropped her keys on the kitchen counter and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Hurricane's making landfall tomorrow," Bruce replied, keeping his eyes on his task.

"What hurricane?"

He spared her a side glance. "The one that's been heading here for the last week. It went up a category today, so."

"Oh." She truthfully couldn't remember hearing anything specific about a hurricane. It made her wonder what else she'd also managed to completely miss. "Didn't hurricane season end a month ago?" Bruce only shrugged in reply to that.

Out of the hallway came Christian, twirling a hammer of his own, nodding to Selina when their eyes met. "Hello there. Got the kids' rooms done, Bruce."

"Thanks," Bruce nodded to the other man. "I got the rest, if you want to head out."

"Right," Christian said, setting the hammer down on top of the wood pile. Selina watched as he bade farewell to Helena, who replied by giggling and whacking him in the knees with her pink hammer. He doubled over and made a performance out of appearing injured, and she laughed harder.

He told Selina goodbye in his unfailingly polite way before leaving, and once he was gone, Selina turned her attention back to Bruce as he grabbed another board and criss-crossed it with the one he'd just secured. "Are you okay to do that?"

"Yep," he replied as he swung the hammer.

"I could help, if you wanted."

"No, I've got it. You can see if Thomas is ready for another bottle if you want."

And this was the new routine - Bruce's clipped sentences, Selina's overly nice and concerned questions, a dance around the mess they were stuck in. The thing that was scaring her the most was the fact that with every passing day, Bruce was distancing himself from her more and more, like he was protecting himself from being hurt any more than he already had been.

She grabbed Thomas and headed to his room, dealing with the tension that was building the longer they ignored the elephant in the room. He had been hoping that she would tell her doctor about her problems at her checkup, and for a moment or two, she really did almost do it. But, the words never made it out of her mouth, and when she came home with a bottle of birth control pills and not much else, Bruce's withdrawal began.

She had no idea what either of them were thinking. She now accepted that something had to be done to pull her out of this, but nothing seemed possible. A therapist would think she was either crazy or delusional if she actually told them the origins of her issues, and the idea of becoming a zombie on happy pills seemed almost worse than being miserable. She didn't know where that left her.

Bruce hadn't attempted to touch her once since her checkup, a far cry from the way he'd whisked her off to a hotel within mere hours the last time around. These days, looking at him was like looking into a mirror - his eyes were as dim as hers, only showing signs of life when his son or daughter was in his arms.

And now, she realized as she fed Thomas without so much as looking down at him once in the process, she was going to be stuck waiting out a storm inside of their boarded-up house with just him and the kids.

Her stomach started twisting with dread and something she hadn't felt in a long time - the sense that something was looming on the horizon, something more and something worse than a physical storm, but she didn't know what it was. And that may have been what made it so acutely disturbing.

* * *

The howling winds came that night, loud and ominous, and Helena was utterly terrified. Storms had always scared her, so it wasn't surprising when she came toddling out of her room clutching a pink stuffed pony and then barreled into her parents' room, crawling between them in their bed and whimpering as the winds screeched.

Thomas was in their room that night as well, in Helena's old bassinet, but he slept through the noise just fine. Helena snuggled to Selina's side while she and Bruce half-watched the weather coverage on TV.

"How long until the power cuts out, you think?" Selina asked.

"Probably not much longer," Bruce replied. He'd already decked out all the rooms that they used with an army of candles, and their supply of non-perishable food had also been replenished. For a man who'd never experienced a hurricane firsthand before, he was rather well-prepared for it.

She couldn't think of anything else to say. The silences they endured now weren't comfortable ones shared by two people who didn't have to constantly talk to enjoy the other's company. It was tense, odd silence, and it was idiotic in her opinion.

But, as far as she was concerned, this was the monster she created, so she didn't have the right to complain.

The next time she glanced over at Bruce, he appeared to be asleep. Helena was breathing evenly in her arms as well. Selina closed her eyes, feeling uneasy and even more disturbed inwardly than she had earlier. Something, whatever it was, was coming, and it couldn't possibly be good.

* * *

They awoke to the darkest dawn either had ever seen in their lives, and it wasn't just due to the boards over the windows. What little light that peeked out through the wood was dismal, a result of the swirling, frighteningly dark clouds that had fully arrived on their little island at last. The winds increased in ferocity, thunder and lighting boomed through the skies, and a torrential downpour beat down upon the house with the speed and volume of a thousand raining bullets.

It was just after breakfast that their electricity failed. Bruce merely sighed and started lighting candles, and Selina prepared herself for a sweltering hot day without air conditioning or fans while Helena stared up at the ceiling with bulging eyes. The poor child had never looked so terrified in her whole life.

Bruce distracted her by breaking out a bottle of bubbles, one of her most loved sources of amusement. She tried to catch each bubble that he blew her way until she tired of that and grabbed the wand from him, then started blowing her own bubbles with gusto. This happened in the living room, and Selina smiled at their daughter's antics while Thomas snoozed in her arms. Unintentionally, her eyes flickered over to Bruce's, and their gazes met for a fleeting moment. The dread inside of her returned, and she looked away. He didn't.

* * *

They spent the whole day together like that, making the time pass and entertaining the kids without interacting more than was necessary with each other. Helena was too spooked by the storm to take her usual two naps, so she zonked out for the night at seven. Thomas had already used up his several wakeful periods for the day, so he ended up asleep by the same time.

Selina realized as she left Thomas in his crib in his own room that she had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nothing to distract herself with now. There was nothing to do now, besides going to her room and figuring out what Bruce was doing to create the sudden clamor that she was hearing.

She found him pushing their king sized mattress off of the bed frame, while his head got dripped on by an apparent leak in the roof. She looked up at the ceiling and found it stained wet, a leak from the upstairs room apparently bad enough to soak through it and drip directly down to their bed.

The mattress was soaked, and she watched as he placed a bucket on the frame to collect the falling moisture. When he turned and noticed her there, he muttered, "Joy of island life, I guess."

She shrugged. "We've got other beds."

"Upstairs," Bruce pointed out. "And I don't want to sleep far from the kids. Or move a mattress down here."

She shrugged again. "We'll figure something out."

He scratched at the back of his neck, staring at the bed frame for no reason before saying quietly, "Well. Just me and you."

She didn't think she'd ever find their solitude to be such an awkward thing. A matter of months ago, she would have jumped him by now. She certainly wouldn't have been fidgeting on her feet like some kind of nervous moron. "Yeah."

She watched him swallow and look away again. Even he was building up his courage right now. At least she wasn't the only one who was stupid. "Look, Selina," he finally began, in a rush, "I can't take this. We're both miserable and we're dancing around it, but it's just making it worse. We may as well hash this out while we're trapped here."

"Hash what out?" she asked, her blood suddenly pumping a little faster.

"Everything."

And there it was, the thing she'd been dreading and feeling sick over. Of course this was going to happen. What else were they supposed to do, play Monopoly and make small talk while their relationship continued to flounder? "I don't want to fight."

He raised his eyebrows. "You'd rather do _this_? Act like roommates? Talk about the weather, or how your day at work was, then go to sleep with about three feet between us?"

She turned and made for the door, mumbling again about not wanting to fight. But as soon as her hand touched the knob, the door slammed shut in front of her face, and a hand grabbed her arm and spun her back against it. She gasped at the unexpectedness of it, then widened her eyes by a fraction when she looked up to find Bruce only a breath away from her, his hand still holding her against the door.

"I swear, Selina," he growled, his tone enough to make her blood run cold, "if you walk out this door one more time then it had damn well better be for good, because I am done with this. I'm done with watching you run, I'm done waiting for you to come around and finally get some help. I'm _done_, Selina."

"What are you saying?" she asked, genuinely alarmed.

"I'm saying that I can't take it anymore," he said. "Nothing is changing, nothing is getting better. You aren't getting better. If you don't start letting me in and stop running away, we're not going to come back from this."

She said the first thing that popped into her head, after trying to calm her suddenly jumping heart. "Sorry to keep letting you down."

He slammed his fist into the door not an inch away from her head, and then walked away from her. She took a deep breath, feeling utterly sick and a little afraid of him at that moment, watching him run his hands through his hair with his back turned to her. She stayed rooted where she was, only reluctantly bringing her eyes up to meet his when he turned.

His eyes lacked the slightly crazed look they'd had a moment ago, and she could see that he'd forced an artificial calm over himself. "Selina," he said evenly, controlled, "you're not letting me down. You're human. I don't hold any of this against you. I just want to see you happy again. That's all I want."

She closed her eyes briefly, looking away as she muttered, "I can't stand it when you're understanding like this."

"What?"

"I don't deserve it, Bruce. I never have. I hate watching you make excuses for the shit I do and act like it's all fine and great when it's not. If you would just for once get angry and yell, or something -"

"You want me to get angry?" he asked calmly.

"I -"

"You want me to scream at you, break stuff?" he asked, his tone even but his eyes starting to look a little wild again.

"It would be better than you telling me how you forgive me and how I've got nothing to feel guilty about."

He stared at her for a minute, long and hard. Then he snapped.

Selina watched with her jaw hanging open and eyes wide as he snapped their stand lamp in two and then smashed the glass of it to the floor. Then he looked up at her and raised his eyebrows. "This what you want?"

Her words were stuck in her throat. He then tore across the room and broke another lamp, then turned to the bed frame and left it as a pile of haphazard, disassembled wood.

"That better?" he asked, coming closer to her, and she continued to stare open-mouthed and silent. "Now what? What do you want me to do now? Yell at you and curse you for something you did to me years ago? Tell you that you're a selfish bitch, that I curse the day I met you, and that you've done nothing but cause me pain and misery since day one?"

She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt warm fingers wiping tears away from her cheeks. She looked up and saw soft eyes before her, eyes that didn't match the shouts he'd just leveled at her at all. When he spoke next, it was the voice she knew, the one that dripped love and understanding even when she didn't want it to. "I can't say those things to you, Selina, because they're not true. You're _not_ a selfish bitch. I _don't_ curse the day I met you. And you might have caused me pain but I've caused you pain, too, and the good outweighs the bad by so much. Even now, I still believe that with all my heart."

"I thought I could do this, Bruce," she said, her voice cracking as she felt herself start to fall apart inside. "I thought I could change and be who you want me to be but I can't, I can't..."

His hands were still on her cheeks, cradling her face as he tilted it back a bit to look into her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," she said miserably. "I've tried so hard to feel something for Thomas. I've sat there and stared at him for hours, trying to make myself love him and I can't. He feels like someone else's kid that I'm babysitting. And he's happier with everyone else, anyway."

She'd never said anything like this out loud before, and had scarcely even admitted it to herself. The confession left her trembling. "I always told you I'm not the maternal type. And now I've got two kids, a job, and you're trying to make me your wife, and I can't do it, Bruce. I am only going to keep letting you down and screwing up your life. And our kids' lives."

Bruce continued to stare at her, absorbing all of her words silently, and she decided that as long as she was digging her own grave, she may as well make it a damn deep one. "And you know what else? I dream about my old life. All the time. And not in a bad way. I feel free when I'm having them. I feel happy, and _limitless_. And then I wake up and I feel trapped. So see? You've been wrong about me all along. There isn't more to me, there never has been."

Bruce shook his head. "You know that's not true. After all we've been through -"

"After all we've been through, I'm dreaming about stealing diamonds, and pushing you away and being a piece of shit mother to a kid that deserves a lot better. Explain that to me."

"We've always had issues, Selina, and we've always ignored them because we were happy. Now you're not happy because of a biological and psychological issue, and it's magnifying it all and overwhelming you."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Biological and psychological."

"_Come on_. You know what's going on here."

Selina stared down at the floor, her eyes catching on the broken glass all around them.

"Tell me what to do to make this better," Bruce said, lifting her chin to lift her eyes to his, "and I'll do it. If you want to... jump across rooftops, steal things, do something that brings you that adrenaline rush, then do it. I won't stop you. I'll support you, if that's what you need. Just... please tell me what you need."

She didn't know whether to marvel at his devotion or wonder if he was just that desperate to see her happy again that he'd give her the green light to do literally anything she wanted, even completely unnecessary illegal things that he loathed. "I wish I knew what to tell you."

He let his hand fall away from her, his jaw setting as he slowly turned away from her. She let out a breath and stared down at the ring on her left hand as he spoke softly. "Something's gotta give, Selina."

She kept staring at the ring, about one second away from taking it off and giving it back to Bruce when she heard a soft whimpering noise from behind the door. Bruce turned, having it heard it as well, and they shared a brief look before Selina opened the door.

Behind the door was Helena, rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding her pony in the other, apparently woken by either the breaking glass, raised voices, the storm, or all three. She looked up through bleary hazel eyes and whined, "Mama?"

Selina quickly bent down and picked the little girl up, glancing briefly to Bruce before carrying her back to her room. Bruce looked down at the numerous glass shards, feeling no closer to a resolution than he had been before the conversation began.

* * *

After she comforted and soothed Helena back to sleep, she returned to the bedroom to find it swept clean of all the glass. At the center of the floor was a pile of sheets and a few fluffy comforters, as well as several pillows, and she took it to be Bruce's attempt at a makeshift bed. Combined with the candles all over the place and surrounding the covers, under normal circumstances, it would have been romantic.

"She all right?"

Selina looked behind her to find Bruce sitting near the door, against the wall. She nodded. "Yeah."

Here in the silence, Selina realized how loud the storm outside really was. The house was creaking and groaning against the wind, the rain hadn't let up one bit since it had began, and the rumble of thunder was almost constant. From the sound of it all, she was impressed that the house was still standing.

She looked at him, sitting there on the floor with his elbows on raised knees, eyes fixed on her, and quietly she asked, "Why didn't you tell me about the kiss?"

"I honestly forgot about it. It was the last thing I was going to think about after the accident." He paused, exhaled and then added, "But, even if I hadn't had the accident, I probably wouldn't have told you. Because it was some crazy woman attacking me, and it meant nothing. And I knew it would only upset you."

Selina nodded. Then he added, "We've got to stop doing this. Both of us. We can't hide things from each other and expect this not to happen."

Selina shook her head slightly. "I don't even know where to begin trying to fix this."

"We can start with the truth."

He got up and started walking to her, and she sighed. "Yeah. What do you want to know?"

"You still love me?"

"Of course I do."

"You love Helena?"

"Yes."

"Do you love Thomas?"

"I want to."

Bruce reached out to her, skimming her jaw with his thumb. "Then we can get through this. You've got to stop pushing me away."

"I haven't done it on purpose," Selina sighed. "I just... don't know how to face you like this."

He tucked her hair behind her ear, and softly said, "You don't have to try to tough it out or get through this on your own. I'm here to help you. I _want_ to help you."

"See," she said, wincing a little bit, "_this_ - this is what's so hard for me to take from you."

"It's never gonna change," he replied. "I'm always going to love you like this. Even if you leave."

His fingers burned her skin where they touched, in a way that she hadn't felt since the early days of their relationship.

"You're not going to leave, are you?"

His voice was soft, a little pleading. She shook her head. "No."

"Promise?"

She gave him a slightly pointed look. "I've never left you before."

He regarded her for a moment, his eyes as soft as his tone as he said, "You've got to get help. We've got to work on this."

"I don't know how," she admitted. "How am I supposed to walk into some doctor's office and tell them my story?"

"We'll ask Leslie for suggestions," Bruce shrugged. "Maybe you won't have to delve too deep into everything. We'll figure it out."

She looked up at him, observing the shadows cast by the many candles as they danced across his face, highlighting his bone structure and eyes that were intently fixed upon hers. The room was hot, as the whole house had been all day, and his touch was even hotter.

There had been a shift, and she felt it now, as clear as the storm raging outside. Not a shift in her mind, not an alleviation of the anxiety and sadness that was only a thought away in her head, but a shift between herself and the man in front of her. She had finally told him everything, took all of the gray in her mind and painted it black and white for him, and even admitted the dreams that she was perhaps more ashamed of than anything. The secrets weren't acting as barriers anymore, and she felt exposed now. It was as much of a relief as it was nerve-wracking and terrifying.

"If we're going to do this honesty thing," she said reluctantly, "then there's one more thing I guess I should tell you. When Eric left, I thought about leaving with him. I only thought about it for about a minute, but I did think about it."

"But you didn't leave," Bruce pointed out. "That's what matters."

She shook her head slightly, giving a small smile. "There you go again."

"It hurts," he admitted. "It hurts that the thought would cross your mind. But I understand why it would."

In an odd way, it helped to hear him admit that he found her actions or thoughts hurtful. It was better than knowing full well how she hurt him yet listening to him gloss over it and tell her that it was all perfectly fine.

"Did you really think I was going to leave?"

He took a breath, gathering his words before he answered. "I thought I was going to come home one day to find you and Helena gone."

"I wouldn't take her from you like that," she said quietly.

He nodded. "I know. But I've never been more afraid for us than I've been in the last couple weeks. I didn't think we'd ever get to this point."

"I didn't either."

The wind gave a particularly strong howl, and the walls made a cracking sound until the howling gave way. Selina turned her gaze to the boarded windows, but he didn't take his eyes off of her for a minute. "Can I ask you something?"

She turned back to him. "What?"

"Are you still attracted to me?"

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a prime example of how far they'd fallen that those words could even leave his mouth at all. "Yes, Bruce. I am. As much as I've always been."

"It hasn't seemed that way," he admitted.

She sighed and took a few steps away from him, then sat down with her back to their ruined bed frame. He followed, and when he settled next to her, he placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. It was the most intimate gesture between them in weeks.

"I feel like an alien or something," she muttered, her head on his shoulder."I hate it. I just haven't been able to bring myself to... want it."

"I guess I haven't really helped," Bruce said. "I just could see after your check up that it wasn't going to happen, so I didn't try."

"It has nothing to do with you," she replied. "Everything to do with me and my fucked up head."

As he had many times tonight, he lifted her face by her chin, and stared down into her eyes as he held her close. She wasn't used to being this close to him anymore, and had gotten quite accustomed to having her own space, but this didn't scare her as badly as she thought it would have.

She had only apologized to him a handful of times over the course of their relationship. Nearly every time she did, he would tell her that she had nothing to be sorry about, and she suspected that was what he'd also say this time around.

"I'm sorry. For all of this. I really am."

"I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you like I should," he murmured back, still unbearably close, his fingers tracing her skin. "These last few weeks I've just thought that I couldn't take anymore. So I kept my distance. I shouldn't have."

"No, I think it's good that you did. I don't think today would have happened the way it did if you hadn't."

He kissed her forehead, and his free hand laced with her left one. They both looked down at her engagement ring, and Selina asked absently, "Still wanna marry me, even after all this?"

"I'm still in if you are," he replied.

Staring at their entwined hands, Selina said, "This is going to take time. Probably a long time. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know where to start. I especially have no clue what to do about Thomas."

"Take as long as you have to," he said. "Do anything you have to. I'll help you in any way that I can. We'll figure it out together. Get through it together."

Through a battery operated monitor on the nightstand, Thomas' cries echoed into their ears. They shared a look and got up together.

* * *

"Thomas," Selina sighed, holding Thomas in one arm while wielding the bottle with the other. He was crying and squirming, arching his back and refusing to calm down long enough to get a single drop of formula in his mouth. It was a familiar issue that Selina and Selina alone faced with him, and her frustration rose with each passing moment. "Thomas... come on, please..."

Then Bruce's hand was on her shoulder, and his voice was low and calm in her ear. "Calm down. Take a breath."

It took her a moment, but she did as he said, as Thomas continued to wail.

"Now relax."

She took another deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Relax... there you go. _Breathe_."

As she listened to his voice take on an almost hypnotic quality, and concentrated on staying calm and letting her tense muscles loosen a bit, an amazing thing happened. Thomas' crying faded slowly to a whimper, and he relaxed in her arms enough to finally accept the bottle.

Selina stared down at the boy in shock while Bruce leaned in and explained, "He knows when you're tense and stressed. He can sense it, and it stresses him out. That's why he's difficult with you. It's not because he's happier with me, or anyone else. It's the opposite. He's _that_ connected to you. And you don't even realize it."

Selina turned her head to the side to meet Bruce's gaze, and for the first time in her recent memory, she wanted to kiss him senseless.

* * *

When they returned to their own room a bit later, Selina's eyes immediately went to the makeshift bed on the floor, and she asked Bruce as he closed the door behind them, "Are you really okay to sleep on the floor like this?"

He shrugged. "I'll be fine. I put like three comforters down."

He walked out in front of her, blowing out some of the more non-essential candles throughout their room, and she asked, "What about earlier, when you broke... the room? Are you in pain from that?"

He walked back towards her, back to the remaining light, and grinned as he shed his t-shirt. "I'm fine. Just don't tell the physical therapist what I did."

The dim, flickering light was hitting him just right, and she felt an actual flutter when he tossed his shirt away and shook some of his just slightly too-long hair out of his face. He then caught her staring, she looked away, and they continued to prepare for bed in silence.

She was the first to test out the "bed", sliding in over the comforters and under the thin sheet he'd draped on top of them. It was surprisingly comfortable, but she wasn't the one with the recently operated-on back. She listened to him move around the bathroom, feeling distinctly nervous.

Everything had changed today. The big, looming darkness she'd sensed hadn't been darkness at all. Instead, it had been the most necessary of discomforts, the proverbial ripping of the bandaid, finally coming fully clean and ripping down the walls that had arisen between herself and Bruce. And though it was just the beginning of a long road out of the pit she was in - and she could barely stand to think of what that would entail, much less battle the voice within that told her it couldn't be done - despite that, she was no longer alone. And so far, it was making all the difference.

When he left the bathroom and slid in the mound of sheets beside her, she noticed that he was still keeping his distance. But, something else that didn't escape her notice was the fact that he wasn't wearing his brace, which he normally slept in, per the doctor's advice.

The storm was still pounding down on the house, but when Bruce spoke to her, his voice was all she heard. "You okay?"

She nodded. She was on her side, facing him, and he was shifting slowly to do the same to her. "How did you know that? About Thomas sensing things?"

"I didn't," he admitted. "Molly did. She told me."

_Molly_, she inwardly sighed. She felt a pang of guilt for how she'd ignored the younger girl for weeks now, but another part of her reminded her that now wasn't the time for guilt. She was, quite frankly, sick to death of guilt.

Something was hovering between them, some last remaining barrier between herself and Bruce, and it was palpable as she looked into his eyes from too far away. He didn't want to push her, she could tell, and she wasn't sure how close she wanted to get. That left them in this limbo, with one too many inches between them, the bridge between where they used to be and where they'd spent the last eight weeks.

Since she was the one who'd been pulling away more and more every week, she took it upon herself to be the one to move forward first. Selina moved towards him, placing her head just on the outer edge of his pillow, and he closed the remaining gap in the same moment. His arms enclosed around her and her hand came to rest on his face, and for a moment, they could see how nervous the other was.

Selina kissed him first. Her lips moved slow and gentle, and his followed suit, both holding back as if it were the first time they'd ever kissed. But then she felt one hand of his tighten just barely on her hip, while the other pressed her closer to him on the back of her neck, and she knew it was time to let go. She parted her lips against his, asking for more, and he gave in with strangled, desperate sigh, claiming her mouth with a starved kiss.

Where anxiety and dread had twisted painfully earlier, she now felt flutters and pleasant shocks as one kiss became many. His arms tightened around her and pulled her close to his bare chest, and his heat was almost too much on top of the heat already suffocating the room, but he felt too good to turn away from. Her hands ran over his chest for the first time in a long time, reacquainted themselves with his scars and skin just before he broke their kiss.

"I don't want to push you too far," he panted, looking down at her already-swollen lips.

"No, please," she replied without hesitation. "I need this. I need you."

She really did. It wasn't easy, and it hurt to look at him, knowing how much pain he'd endured because of her and hating it, but she couldn't bear to not feel his touch right now.

He shifted so that he was looking down upon her, touching her face softly as he studied her eyes in the dark light of the room, and she fought the instinct to look away, hide herself and her feelings from him. Those days had to be over. They _had_ to be.

When he bent down to kiss once more, it was loving and deep, the kiss of a man torn between taking his time to savor every last second with his lover and the equally strong urge to completely ravish her after going so long without her.

She closed her eyes when his lips moved to her neck, one of her hands in his hair while her other was pressed down on the pillow by one of his own, and as he kissed that most sensitive inch of skin there, she sighed and could have cried in relief of her body responding to him. _Finally_, she thought, finally she felt sparks of her old self and the passion that she cherished coming back.

She tugged on his hair gently, telling him to come back up to her, and when he did she kissed him with everything that she had. She pushed him down to his side as she kissed him, making them face one another equally again, her leg sliding between his as his hands slowly pushed up the tank top she had on. She wanted the thing off as much as he did, the heat in the air getting thicker with each moment, so she pulled away just long enough to peel it off and toss it away. In that short moment, he pinned her underneath him, desperate hands cupping the newly exposed flesh as his mouth devoured hers.

It was as if the time apart had left her with hypersensitive skin, because each touch and kiss was off the charts intense. He didn't rid them of their remaining clothes fast enough for her, so she assisted him, and when it was bare skin to bare skin, he kissed her lips and she involuntarily recalled his question earlier regarding her attraction to him.

She looked up into his hooded eyes and pushed back some of his wayward hair, wanting to obliterate that question into ash and scatter it into a black hole, and make sure he never ever had to wonder again. Her voice was small but determined as she murmured, "You're beautiful."

"That's supposed to be my line," he grinned, his finger tracing the outline of her bottom lip.

She kissed his fingertip and gave a light shrug. "Tonight it's mine."

She lost sight of the concept of words, however, when a moment later he set out to memorize her body all over again. There was a new scar, the one from her C-section that stretched low from hip to hip, and he kissed the length of it before bringing his mouth lower and setting her on fire.

It was a far cry from that last ill-fated attempt of his at touching her, and there could be no faking or masking of what she was feeling, what his efforts were doing to her. It had been so long and she was so far into overdrive that that she was done in minutes, before he would have preferred, but he wasn't in a teasing or prolonging mood, either. He felt the significance of this as strongly as she did, and prayed hard that it was the turning point, and the breakthrough, that they'd needed so desperately.

He kissed her lips after, and teased as he settled in against her, "That was too fast."

"Enjoying yourself, were you?"

"It's been a long time," he shrugged before kissing her again.

Far too long, she agreed. She couldn't have anticipated the rush that this would bring her, the sheer relief and joy of reclaiming a vital piece of herself through him, through the passion she'd been living without, and she knew now what she couldn't have before - a life without passion was not a life at all.

His voice in her ear brought her back down to earth, away from her epiphany. "You've been taking your pills, right?"

"Duh," she replied emphatically. He grinned down at her, shifting lightly as she looped a leg around him.

With his first thrust, it was all she could do to hold on and sigh in satisfaction at finally being home again. It felt like the first time in so many ways, like reintroducing themselves and learning one another all over again, after very nearly losing all of this entirely. It even did remind her, in the part of her brain that was still functioning, of their actual first time, which had also taken place on a bedroom floor.

He took her gently, lovingly, but not slowly and not softly. She moved with him, not wanting it to end, not wanting to feel anything but _him_ and _this_. The wind howled and the house protested, and though the storm was really only inches away from them, separated by a mere wall, it couldn't touch them here. Nothing could, it seemed, and though tomorrow it would be back to reality and back to the struggle, tonight none of it mattered. Tonight was for them, well-earned and desperately accepted.

She felt the fire inside building into another peak, one that Bruce was straining hard to last long enough to give her, and just as she was about to let go, a particularly loud, jarring burst of thunder sounded outside, and the whole house shook under the the power of it.

Bruce stilled for a moment, their eyes meeting as the walls trembled, and without realizing he was doing it, his arms tightened around her.

She wasn't afraid of thunder, nor of the storm at all, really, but he still made her feel safer than she had a moment ago. And maybe, she thought, that was the point that she'd been missing for so long. He was her safe place, her shelter, her place to hide when she needed to. And everyone, sooner or later, would always need to.

The thunder melted away into a low, distant-sounding rumble, and he began moving again. She closed her eyes and reeled under the renewed sensations, her hips meeting his, their kisses growing deeper and harder the closer they got. The storm was gone again, and the world was gone, banished from all thought, replaced by this. And when it happened, when the end came, it was everything they needed it to be.

They held each other close, Bruce breathing hard into the curve of her neck, both of them vaguely realizing how truly, excessively hot it was now. Selina's hair was tangled and nearly soaked, Bruce's was stuck to his forehead and it was hard for either to breathe, but they couldn't bear to separate yet. If it meant heat stroke or just combusting and burning to the ground then so be it, because it would have been worth it.

When one of them did finally move, it was Bruce, lifting his head slowly like it suddenly weighed a ton, and kissing her once more. Then he rolled over with a contented breath, and as he pulled her close to him, she closed her eyes and for once felt like she'd found a little bit of peace.

All of the words that crossed her mind to say had already been said that day. She didn't want to say anything, didn't want to poison this moment of clarity and relief, so she pressed one more kiss to his lips before settling into his embrace, closing her eyes. He fell asleep holding her, his chin resting on the top of her head, and for a night, all was as it should be.

* * *

Selina awoke with a start a few hours later, unable to outrun the dreams that haunted her sleeping mind nightly. It had been a strange version of the recurring one, but instead of happily crossing rooftops and cashing in on her freedom at the end, she'd been being ruthlessly chased. It wasn't until the end of the dream, when her foot had been caught on a wire and she fell many stories, that she caught a glimpse of her pursuer, who turned out to be none other than herself.

The sound of her waking gasp awoke Bruce as well, and as she slowly calmed herself down, she felt the palm of his hand on her waist stir and caress her lightly. His voice was low and sleepy as he murmured against her ear, "Dream?"

In the course of the night, they'd moved so that her back was to his chest, though they remained as close as when they had first fallen asleep. If this had been a week ago, she would have denied that she'd been dreaming at all. Instead, this time, she nodded. "Yeah."

Outside, the storm had calmed some. The house wasn't creaking, thunder wasn't rumbling, and the rain now had a normal, moderately heavy sound as it fell. The heat had subsided some as well, and the room was utterly dark for lack of candlelight. Her eyes could only see the outlines of her surroundings, but this seemed to heighten her still-sensitive sense of touch, as she felt Bruce but couldn't see him.

First she felt warm breath and then lips on her neck, and the hand on her waist was wandering, touching and feeling with the softness of a feather, but staying in innocent places. At first she thought he was just being comforting, sweetly reassuring her in the wake of a nightmare and maybe he was, but then his tongue ran along a vein in her neck and his hand brushed somewhere more dangerous, and her pulse quickened instantly.

She sighed, still not used to feeling alive like this but clinging to it with everything she had. When she couldn't take anymore and had to be closer, she turned in his arms and kissed him long and hard, thwarting his efforts to take control by positioning herself on top of him.

Looking down at him, lowering herself to cover his chest with hers as his hand brushed the hair out of her face, she could see in his eyes that he recognized her once more. She recognized herself as well, the bits and pieces that letting him back in allowed her to claim, and though there remained a whole host of other pieces to find and put back together, for now, this was enough.

They kissed as she slid down over him, taking him in, and her name on his lips was more than worth waking up for.

* * *

They awoke after dawn to small little rays of light peeking out around the window boards, the silence outside indicating that the storm had moved on. They were tangled together still, and if she hadn't awoken like that, Selina would have feared that yesterday had all been a dream.

But, thankfully, it wasn't. They got up and dressed, fetched the kids from their rooms and ventured outside to survey what damage the house had incurred.

The sun was low in the sky, bright and rising higher and higher, casting warmth on their faces as they stepped off of the back deck and into the sand. Helena stepped out cautiously in pink rain boots, acting very puzzled by how wet the sand was, and Bruce carried Thomas in one arm while his free hand held one of Selina's.

When they turned and looked upon the house, both Bruce and Selina let out breaths they'd been holding since they first woke up. Structurally, the house was fine. There was the leak in the roof to patch, and a few other outwards signs of damage, but the house was still standing.

Selina turned then and looked out to the horizon. The storm was raging still, though it was off in the distance now and moving on to pour down on the other islands in it's path. It was something to see, a bright rising sun contrasted with a powerful storm system spinning off just beneath it, and Selina couldn't take her eyes away until Bruce's voice shook her from her revelry.

"Selina."

She turned to him and he gestured to their right. She looked over to see Molly, checking the outside of her own home, and glancing over towards Selina nervously as she did.

This moment had been a long time coming, Selina admitted, and though she'd never enjoy swallowing her pride like she was about to, she couldn't delay this any longer. She gave Bruce a tight smile and started walking towards her best friend.

Molly fidgeted until Selina got there, and Selina decided to spare the poor girl a speech or anything else as awkward and just spit it out. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry for being a bitch. Life sucks without you there to drive me crazy, so... start over?"

They stood there, behind Molly's deck in the packed sand, and Molly stared at the older woman in disbelief. "But... do you really mean that?"

"Yeah."

Molly's blue eyes then filled up instantly with huge, happy tears, and she launched herself at Selina like a crazy person. Selina laughed as she hugged the girl back, glancing back at Bruce to roll her eyes, but her smile was the real giveaway of how relieved she was.

Christian, holding Aidan near the door on the deck, grinned down at the scene, then glanced across the beach to nod at Bruce and give the thumbs up. Life would surely be more pleasant for all involved now that the fight was over.

It was one more piece of Selina, reclaimed and put back into place. She half-listened to Molly babble about how much she'd missed her and how they should never fight again, her relief tempered by the knowledge that this was just the start of finding her way back to herself.

But, she wouldn't be going it alone anymore, and surely that would make all the difference.


	29. Chapter 29

"I still don't think this is the greatest idea."

Selina folded a pair of jeans and tossed it into her suitcase, which was open and half-full on her bed. She was clad in a light blue dress and was mostly ready to depart, even if her mind hadn't quite caught up with her yet. Behind her, Bruce was tossing Helena up in the air and catching her, over and over, and the little girl was almost crying for how hard she was laughing. For her part, Selina was just happy that Bruce was physically able to do such a thing now.

"Well," Bruce said, smiling as he gave Helena another toss, "you'll just have to deal with it."

Selina rolled her eyes and turned, crossing her arms. "Right. Like you can really force me to do anything."

Bruce caught Helena and then held her close, and she dropped her head on his shoulder while she continued to laugh. "I will personally grab you and put on the jet myself if you resist."

"And if you try that, I will personally knock you unconscious, and you would wake up in a very remote South American jungle."

Bruce grinned and set Helena down. "I wouldn't be so sure."

"Really, though," Selina sighed. "It was just a week and a half ago that we... finally started talking, and..."

"And that's exactly why I want you to do this," Bruce said. "Just consider it a chance to breathe and... reset yourself. Clear your head and take a break. Spend a few days with just yourself and your best friend, doing... whatever it is best friends do."

Selina sighed. "I still don't think it's a good idea."

"You will," Bruce shrugged. "Now you should go eat breakfast. Molly should be here in a few minutes. I'll be in the shower."

Selina nodded while he walked off to the bathroom. After a moment, she walked over to Thomas' bassinet and looked down to find him awake and gnawing on his arm. She grabbed a pacifier that he was half-laying on and stuck it in his mouth, and as he looked up at her with his big brown eyes that he'd inherited from her, she again waited to feel that tugging of the heart that she had yet to feel for him.

Still nothing. She then walked away to look in a drawer for a new outfit for him, and to her surprise, saw a certain onesie that she'd forgotten all about. She picked it up and smiled a little bit, remembering the day that she and Bruce had bought it, and noted that Thomas was finally big enough to fit into it now.

When she changed Thomas out of his sleeper and into the onesie, he stared at her the whole time, sucking happily on the pacifier, and she continued to hope that one of those times that she'd meet his gaze, that moment she'd been hoping for since his birth would finally happen.

But, when it didn't, she gathered him up in her arms, and called for Helena to follow her as she walked to the kitchen.

* * *

"Aw... oh my God, that's so cute!" Molly smiled and raved, picking Thomas up and out of his bouncy seat as Selina fed Helena. "A little Batman onesie! Where did you get it?"

"What? Oh... that little boutique in Nassau," Selina replied absently.

"Who knew they sold Batman stuff there," Molly wondered aloud, cradling the little boy. "Did you ever see him, living in Gotham?"

Questions like that reminded Selina of how little the people closest to her really knew about her life. With the exception of Alfred and Leslie, those she interacted with on a day to day basis were really extremely ignorant of everything that made Selina and Bruce who they were. "I... yeah. A few times."

Molly's eyes widened and she spun around to give Selina an intrigued look. "Really? Are you serious?"

Selina nodded, then decided to change the subject as Helena grabbed the spoon from her hands and started feeding herself. "Yep. So where exactly is Christian's cottage?"

"Islamorada, in the Florida Keys," Molly replied. "So when did you see him? Was he fighting someone or... ooh! Did he ever save you from anything? Aside from the nuclear bomb, of course. You were there for that, right?"

_You have no idea_, Selina wanted to reply. Instead she nodded, "Yeah, I was there. I saw it go off."

"So sad," Molly said, looking down at Thomas' onesie. "I wasn't much for watching news back then, but I watched it, like, religiously when all of that was going on."

The conversation reminded Selina of a question she needed to ask Bruce before leaving with Molly on their little three-day excursion to the Florida Keys. "Hey, do you mind keeping an eye on these two for a few minutes?"

"Not at all," Molly smiled. Selina nodded and left the kitchen with a pat to Helena's head.

The whole point of this trip, which Bruce had suggested, planned and insisted on himself, was not only for Selina to take time for herself but to genuinely have a good time with Molly, go shopping or dancing or whatever they wanted to do, but there were a few issues that Selina needed to find a way around. The most glaring one was the result of the fight that Molly had witnessed between Selina and Blake, the one that made her wonder who in the world her neighbors really were, and though Molly hadn't brought it up yet, it was only a matter of time. Selina needed to know exactly how deep into their lives, and secrets, they were going to take this girl.

She walked into their bedroom, saw the bathroom door open by a crack, and started walking there without a second thought. She pushed open the door and walked inside, pausing at the sight of Bruce, hair soaked and pushed straight back on his head, standing in front of the mirror, a towel wrapped around his hips, patting his face dry with a small hand towel after finishing shaving. He glanced at her, and her eyes moved upwards from the towel, settling on broad shoulders and strong arms as they glistened under the the overhead lights.

The bathroom was hot, still humid from the shower he'd stepped out of moments earlier. Bruce watched Selina's hand reach the doorknob behind her as she said, "There's something I need to talk to you about."

She closed the door and locked it, and he looked up at her with amusement. "You don't look like you particularly want to... talk."

Selina shrugged and walked to him, then hopped up on the sink in front of him. "It can wait a few minutes."

Bruce placed his palms down on the sink, on either side of her hips, leaning into her as he felt a brush of her hands and then the drop of his towel as it hit his feet. "Just a few?"

"I've got a plane to catch," Selina grinned, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him close.

"Molly watching the kids?"

"Yep," Selina replied before pulling him down for a kiss. His hands moved to her hips and pulled her closer to him, his mouth instantly insistent against hers, and behind Selina's head, the still-cloudy mirror slowly started to fog back up.

* * *

Bruce knew he had a stupid look on his face as he watched Selina hop off the bathroom counter and sashay towards the door, adjusting her dress like nothing ever happened, but he was too happy to see that swing back in her step that he didn't care. She glanced at him over her shoulder as she unlocked the door, smiling at that idiotic grin on his face as she said, "Can I help you?"

His grin widened. "It's good to see you like this again."

She raised an eyebrow and unlocked the door while he grabbed the towel from the floor and fastened it around his hips once more, just in case anyone had wandered into the unlocked bedroom in the last ten minutes. "Yeah? See me like what?"

He followed her, the cooler air of the room a shock to his overheated skin. "Well, let's just say that a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have attacked me in the bathroom like that."

Selina watched as he then headed for their closet, and after glancing towards her suitcase that still sat upon her bed, she followed him. "I don't mind the change, myself."

He chuckled, and she leaned against the closet's doorframe as he started to dress for the day. "I don't either. Even if you are using sex as a... rather effective subject changer when you start getting uncomfortable."

She furrowed her brows. "What?"

He was fastening a belt around his black pants as he gave her a knowing look. "Don't try to play dumb. You know exactly what you've been doing."

Internally, she rolled her eyes. It wasn't her fault that all Bruce ever wanted to talk about was her "problem" and potential ways to help it, and that sometimes she didn't want to talk at all. She still woke up in the morning with a knot in her stomach, she still looked forward to Thomas' naps more than she thought any parent should, and she was far from where she used to be, but she felt like herself when she and Bruce were intimate. It was the only time that she truly felt like the person she knew she was, so she didn't think he could blame her for then using it to her advantage.

"It's not that I'm using it to change the subject, Bruce," she said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm not complaining," he said quickly, buttoning up a white shirt over his chest. "I just -"

"No, let me talk," she interrupted. She took a deep breath then, not wanting to say what she was about to say, but honesty was their new policy. This was what they had resolved to do, when they finally had their breakthrough a week and a half ago - talk about everything, hide nothing from one another, even - perhaps especially - when they didn't want to. "It's the only time I feel like myself. It takes my mind off everything and makes me feel better. Even if it's just for a few minutes." He gave her a look, and she quickly added, "Well, usually more than a _few_ minutes."

"Trust me, I get that," he nodded, walking out of the closet to stand in front of their stand mirror and finish dressing. "And I've noticed. It's progress. But this is part of why I'm insisting on you taking this trip. I want you to get out of your routine, not worry about Helena or Thomas - or me - or your job, the lawsuit, anything. I think it'll help."

"And what if I have so much fun that I don't want to come back?" she asked, watching from behind him as his fingers worked on a dark blue tie.

His eyes met hers in the mirror. "If I wasn't confident about that not happening, I probably wouldn't be sending you away."

She wasn't as sure as he was, not by a long shot. She may never stop thinking Bruce an utter fool for the faith he always placed in her seemingly without any hesitation. But then, the tie secure under his collar, he turned to her and smiled gently as he reached out and touched the ends of her hair. They'd curled up just a little bit from the bathroom's humidity, making it appear as if she'd just walked in from the beach. "I don't want you to call or text me unless something truly urgent's happened. And I won't call or text you either. Enjoy the next few days, all right?"

"That reminds me," she said, "I need to ask you what exactly we're okay with telling Molly."

Bruce sighed, looking down at the floor briefly. He remembered vividly Molly bursting in this very room and demanding answers as to who they really were, and the only reason he'd been spared having to give her answers was the following rift between her and Selina. "Well. I think it's only a matter of time before she knows."

"Too many people already know," Selina replied. "Like Raven. And she's not even with Blake anymore."

"Yeah, but... you call her your best friend. If you mean that, then it's only a matter of time before you'll have to tell her."

"The biggest secret isn't mine to tell," Selina pointed out.

Bruce smiled a little at this. "Yeah it is. Everything I have is yours, including the past. I trust you with it."

Again, she wanted to call him an idiot. But the sudden warmth she felt at his words shooed the thought away. His phone made a noise across the room, and she looked away, turning to her suitcase as the moment ended and he reluctantly went to retrieve the device.

She was walking towards the bedroom door with the luggage in tow when she felt a hand on her arm, and swiftly she was spun around and pushed against the closed door.

"Hey," Bruce half-whispered, a tiny grin on his lips as he invaded her space. "I'm gonna miss the hell out of you."

His hands moved to her hips, and hers came to rest on his chest as she smirked up at him. "Yeah, I'm sure you will. You'd better be awake when I come home Sunday night."

"Feel free to wake me up if I'm not," he murmured before capturing her lips with his.

She gave him a kiss that she hoped would keep him anxiously awaiting her return, pulling him close with a hand on the back of his neck and the other gripping his tie, her tongue teasing his before she withdrew with a grin. She then let go of his tie and grabbed the handle of her luggage, keeping the grin on her face as she opened the door behind her. "See ya."

* * *

Selina made the rest of her goodbyes quick, especially with Helena, knowing that lingering would only make it more difficult for the mama-addicted little girl. As it was, Bruce managed to distract Helena with a few of her toys while Selina slipped out.

From there, it was a short trip to the jet and an only slightly longer trip to the Florida Keys.

"So," Molly said excitedly as she peered out of her window and across the glistening ocean beneath them, "what are we gonna do for the next three days? Shopping? Eating? Drinking? All three at once and then dancing?"

"Sure, why not?" Selina said, instinctively checking her phone and having to consciously tell herself to put it away and not check it obsessively. Beside her, Molly noticed this, and Selina sighed and said, "This is weird."

"I know," Molly agreed. "I feel like I'm missing an arm or something without Aidan with me. But we're gonna have fun. There's lots to do in the Keys. And we have a lot to catch up on."

"Can we agree to not talk about the whole post-partum depression thing every five seconds?" Selina asked wearily. "Seriously. Bruce tries to talk to me about it until we're both blue in the face, and I can't shut you up the same way I shut him up."

"Absolutely," Molly said, holding her hands up in a that is fine with me gesture. "I'm sure eventually our conversations will turn serious at some point, but my only agenda is to have a blast with my best friend. Can we talk about wedding planning, though? I did a lot of research when you... well, when we weren't talking, and -"

"Jesus," Selina sighed, but with a smile.

"What?" Molly smiled and shrugged innocently. "I wasn't going to slack off on my MOH duties just because I was dead to you."

"You weren't exactly dead to me."

Molly raised an eyebrow and looked skeptically at the other woman. "Really? I don't know about that."

"Well, it doesn't matter now."

"That's right," Molly agreed, putting the thought out of her head. "Let's just focus on having fun. I say after we get to the cottage and get our stuff settled in, we go to Key West for lunch and take a look around. And have a cocktail. It's been so long since I've had a cocktail."

Selina nodded and muttered a reply, her hand grabbing her phone out of her bag again completely out of habit. This time, Molly quickly snatched it out of her hands.

"Hey -"

"Nope," Molly decreed, taking the phone and sticking it in her own bag at her feet. "No phones. Bruce made me promise to make sure you stayed off your phone."

Selina rolled her eyes. Of course he did. "It's just a habit. And what if something happened with the kids or work, or -"

"Then I'll let you know and let you have it back," Molly said. "You're going to have fun, Selina, even if I've got to force you to. And you know I will."

Selina chuckled despite herself. The next few days would undoubtedly prove to be interesting.

* * *

"No," Bruce said sternly, giving both of his lawyers a withering glare in the board room of the hospital. Beside the two older attorneys sat Leslie, wearing a look as disdainful as Bruce himself. "Absolutely not. I am not settling with her. I would rather let this drag out for months than settle out of court."

The older of the lawyers, a balding and heavyset man named James who always appeared to be perpetually stressed, leaned forward and sighed, "Mr. Wayne, I understand where you're coming from, but -"

"But I'm not going to debate with either of you," Bruce interrupted. "Settling a sexual harassment case out of court doesn't just admit guilt, it screams it."

"Not necessarily," said the other lawyer, a more outwardly confident man named Marco. "Look, we have witnesses, yes. But so does she."

"Witnesses who have been obviously paid off," Leslie interjected.

"Either way," Marco shrugged, "this is going to become a textbook case of he said/she said. And to be perfectly frank, as a man, the odds are overwhelmingly against you from the get-go. This woman's not stupid, and as we've seen from her press conferences, she's a damn good actress."

"It also doesn't help," James said, "that you haven't said one word to the press directly, aside from written statements."

"I've got a family to protect," Bruce said, slightly incredulous. "And a hospital that I'm trying to run. I don't have time to try to gain the public's sympathy or 'tell my side' of the story, especially when public opinion doesn't even matter in this case."

"It always matters," James muttered. "Always. The judge can rule in your favor but if the public sides with her, that's damage you might not be able to come back from."

Bruce tapped the edge of his pen on the table, silently fuming on the inside. He had to admit, this was all quite a new experience. Gotham's Bruce Wayne may have appeared to the world as an irresponsible idiot who bedded models and actresses, or both, every night, but the Bahamas' Bruce Wayne being perceived as a media-shunning sexual harasser wasn't something he had been prepared to deal with. And the Bahamas wasn't like Gotham, at all. In Gotham, he could have outran this lawsuit with no problem, and the public would have barely batted an eye before eventually forgetting. Here, though the islands were laid back, it was quite smaller and the residents had a longer memory.

"Well," Bruce said eventually, "I'm not going to settle. I'm not paying her one cent unless a judge orders it, and until that happens, I'm going to remain confident that this lawsuit will either get thrown out or that they'll rule in our favor."

In his jacket pocket, his phone vibrated. He pulled it out, glanced at the number, and looked up to his lawyers. "Are we done for today?"

As the lawyers sighed and gathered their things to leave, Bruce motioned for Leslie to stay. When they were gone, he picked up his phone and redialed the number that had just called him.

"For the record," Leslie said as Bruce placed the phone to his ear, "I think you're doing the right thing. Settling is as good as admitting guilt."

"At least someone agrees with me," Bruce smiled faintly as the other line picked up. "Lucius. You called?"

All the way from Gotham, behind his desk in his office at Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox replied, "I did. How are you, Bruce?"

"I'm... well, I'm good, all in all."

"All in all," the older man repeated. "Doesn't sound too convincing."

"Life is never dull, I'll put it that way," Bruce replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I was actually calling to see if you've heard from our friend, Mr. Blake, anytime recently."

"Blake?" Bruce repeated. "No, not since he left here a few weeks ago. Why?"

"Well, I just put the finishing touches on something he asked me to throw together last month, but he hasn't been taking my calls or answering my texts."

"When did you last hear from him?" Bruce asked, concern coloring his tone.

"Not since before he flew down to you," Lucius replied. "I asked my niece if she'd heard from him, and she just about took my head off for saying his name out loud."

"I'll try to get a hold of him," Bruce replied.

"All right. By the way, I saw that a pretty strong hurricane came your way just a week or two ago."

"Yeah," Bruce said, "it was pretty intense."

"Everyone okay? And the house?"

"All fine," Bruce assured him.

"Good. How about that wedding? How's that coming along?"

Bruce chuckled. "Ask me in a few more months. But you'll be getting an invitation for Thomas' christening soon."

"I'm glad to hear it. I look forward to meeting your father's little namesake."

Bruce smiled. "Me too. I'll let you know when I talk to Blake."

"All right. Take care, Bruce."

"You too, Lucius."

When Bruce hung up and immediately began composing a text, Leslie asked from across the table, "What's wrong?"

"I guess Blake's been AWOL for a few weeks," Bruce shrugged, typing, _Fox is trying to get a hold of you. Text or call me ASAP._

"He's not in a good line of work to go long periods without contact," Leslie noted.

Bruce set his phone down on the table. "Yeah."

As Bruce waited for a reply, Leslie asked, "How's Selina doing?"

"Better," Bruce nodded. "In some areas. She's still struggling, but... things being out in the open, and us talking, is helping."

"I can't help but feel a bit guilty," Leslie sighed. "I'm a doctor. I've known her for years. I should have seen the signs."

Bruce shook his head. "You've barely taken a day off since we opened this place. It's more than understandable. I'm the one who lived with her every day and didn't get it until Molly spelled it out for me."

As Leslie politely accepted Bruce's attempt to ease her guilt, his phone buzzed. He picked it up and read Blake's reply._ I know. Been busy._

Furrowing a brow, Bruce began to type his reply. _Next time, take his calls before I start sending people to look for your body in a dumpster_.

Now annoyed, Bruce put his phone down and noted the time as his mind slowly drifted back to work. Selina should be knee deep into the Keys by now. He pictured her in her light blue dress from that morning, hair down and blowing softly in the breeze as she sipped on something sweet, laughing with Molly as they chatted at some beachfront restaurant.

It would be a long three days without her, but he was confident that the distance was well worth it.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Gotham, an unshaven and generally disheveled John Blake entered the Applied Sciences division of Wayne Enterprises by way of a secret entrance and a passcode created long ago for him by Lucius. He was dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie pulled over his head, and his steps were heavy as he made his way through row after row of prototypes and assorted gadgets.

He found Fox behind a computer, apparently aware of his presence as he said, "Good to see you aren't dead, Mr. Blake."

"... Sorry," Blake muttered. "I've been -"

"No need to explain yourself to me," Lucius said, turning in his seat to look at the younger man before standing up. "If you want to hide in a cave and sulk because of what happened between you and my niece, I suppose that's your prerogative. Very Wayne-like, too, I might add. He also forgot to how shave when his relationships didn't work out."

Blake paused and looked down, muttering, "Look, I..."

Lucius patted Blake's shoulder as he walked past him. "It's all right, son. Come on, let me show you your new suit."

Together they walked, Blake's hands shoved in his pockets as Lucius' calm voice went over the details of the upgrades he'd made to Nightwing's armor, which he showed to the younger man in it's disassembled pieces in a locked drawer. New, stronger biweave, sleeker wing emblem, improved gauntlets that contained more storage for weapons or tools, and instead of a one-time shock if the suit was ever attempted to be taken forcibly off of him, a charge that had a five-shock life. Blake listened with mild interest, and when Lucius closed the drawer and turned to him, the older man raised a brow and said, "Did you get any of that?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded quickly. "Thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to do this."

Lucius let a few moments of silence pass before he spoke again. "Is there anything you'd like to ask me, John?"

Blake paused and stared at the floor for a moment before muttering, "How's she doing?"

"Functioning," Lucius said. "But she's just as vacant-eyed and distant as you are right now."

Blake shook his head and said, "I'm sorry. It's my fault, all of it. I should have known better than think I could have... both."

"Both?"

"This life, and a relationship," Blake shrugged. "Wasn't fair to her. It never was."

"Is that all that's bothering you?" Lucius asked. "I'm sensing that there's something else."

Blake shrugged again before shaking his head and saying, "It's just that nothing ever changes. Not really. The city came together after the bomb, but that lasted about a whole six months. It's been business as usual ever since then. I can spend every night out there doing what I can but it doesn't really change anything."

"Sounds like someone's approaching burnout," Lucius pointed out.

"I'm just sick of it," Blake replied. "I knew what I was choosing when I started this. I knew it meant being alone and fighting a losing battle. But now I'm starting to see how much of a losing battle it really is."

"What happened?"

Blake turned on his feet a little bit, looking down as he stared off and set his jaw. He didn't want to talk about it, but maybe it was best to do it anyway. "It was my first night back here, after I went and saw Bruce last. One of the gangs was having an initiation down near Crime Alley. I got there too late. They left behind this girl, this thirteen year old girl. Just left her to bleed to death in the back of an alley. I told her she was safe and that I was going to help her, but she died before I could even pick her up. And I realized that this... this is Gotham. It'll always be Gotham."

"Surely," Lucius said, "you haven't forgotten the ones you _have_ saved, and the good that you _have_ done. You've been at this for more than two years - you've done far more good than I can even remember."

"But it's swimming against a current," Blake said. "It's fighting against something that just comes back bigger and worse the more you try to push it down, while I try to live up to something that I probably can't."

"You know what I first thought when I found out what you were doing?" Lucius asked. "I thought that you must have been certifiably insane to want to pick up the mantle. I thought you'd be out there for a month before the city ate you alive. I'm being perfectly honest."

"I can tell."

"But you proved me wrong. Here you were, this kid with a streak of idealism who thought you could take on the world because someone you looked up to your whole life handpicked you to continue his legacy. The truth is, John, I'm most shocked that it took you this long to get discouraged."

Blake shrugged. "Can't be an idealist in a city like this. Corruption's still alive and well. Even the mob is starting to come back, despite the Dent Act."

"The city's always going to drain you, if you allow it to. It's always going to be too much. It's always going to be disappointing and brutal."

"So then what am I supposed to do?" Blake asked somewhat miserably. "Just... drown in it until one night I don't make it home?"

"Well, now, that's up to you," Lucius said. "And at the end of the day, you're the one that has to be able to live with yourself and your decisions. But I'll say this - that legacy you're keeping alive? It's not about drowning in the city's filth. It's about rising above it. Don't forget that."

Lucius decided to leave the younger man with that thought, giving him another shoulder pat before walking past him, towards the elevator.

"Fox?"

Lucius stopped and turned his head. "Yes?"

"Do you think I can ever fix things with her? Or is her mind made up?"

"Oh, her mind's made up," Lucius replied. "But that doesn't mean you can't fix things."

* * *

"Gosh," Molly smiled, her blonde hair shining under the afternoon sun as she and Selina walked past some high-end shops in Key West, "talk about going from one paradise to another."

"This all feels distinctly more American than home, that's for sure," Selina remarked, eyes hidden by a big pair of dark sunglasses. "It's kind of weird. I'm too used to the Bahamas."

"What a problem to have," Molly joked. "Ooh! Let's go in there, I like that purse in the window..."

And so they went, hopping from shop to shop, Molly spending far more freely than Selina did, if only out of habit than anything else. Selina did her best to enjoy herself, trying not to think about anything going on at home or anywhere else, and when Molly skipped into a small but very rich-looking jewelry store, Selina followed, suddenly reminded of something Bruce had told her during the storm.

While Molly oohed and ahhed over various diamonds and gems, Selina walked slowly among the displays and glanced over each of them. Nothing caught her eye until she reached the end of a far left row, upon which sat a pair of perfect pearl earrings.

She glanced around her. Molly was in her own little world, going wide-eyed over a platinum emerald bracelet, and the only employee was on the phone with her back turned to the rest of the store. The only other customer present was near Molly, elderly and rich, and was mumbling to herself.

It was quick and effortless, just as easy and second-nature as it ever was. A few moments later she and Molly left the store, the pearl earrings now resting comfortably in Selina's ears, matching the strand on her neck.

* * *

Molly wasn't stupid, not by a long shot, and she noticed the sudden presence of Selina's new earrings within only a few moments. She didn't say anything, but it did remind her of the conversation that she needed to have with Selina before the trip ended.

She kept the chatting light and frivolous as they continued to walk among the shops, her arms becoming heavier with more bags as they went. Selina still had yet to buy a single item, unless Molly counted the earrings that she'd "borrowed".

Molly expected it to take some time for Selina to get into the swing of things, but she had a plan for that as well. If shopping wasn't quite her thing - at least today - then maybe some more direct sun would do the trick.

"All right, I think I've done enough damage for one hour," Molly said, looking down at the bags hanging from her arms. "Ready to go?"

"Sure," Selina replied, and they began walking in the direction of the parking area. "Where to now?"

"I say we hit the beach," Molly said. "You know what's funny? We literally live on a beach, but I don't think either of us spend much time on it at all."

Selina shook her head. "I've gotten so used to it that I don't ever think to go lay on it or swim, or... anything, really. I just look at it."

"Ugh, me too, and by the way, that needs to change," Molly replied. "Starting today. We're gonna get some sun and actually get in the water for once. You know what? We should totally do some snorkeling while we're here. Man, I wanna go swimming with dolphins, too... I've never gotten to before. Dammit, three days isn't enough."

Selina smiled as Molly continued to ramble on, and at a certain point, Molly looked over to find herself walking alone. She stopped and looked behind her, and found Selina just a few feet behind, looking at a display in an art store.

As soon as Selina noticed that Molly was looking, she quickly began to move on, with a perfectly blank look on her face. But, Molly had seen the split second of something else on her face, something that looked almost - wistful? No... sad? Maybe.

A glance towards the display revealed what had caught Selina's attention. A dark, sprawling, framed painting of a huge city, full of tall buildings and lights underneath a black, starry sky. But amidst the darkness, perhaps even a part of it, was a shadow of a man, standing on the highest building and watching over the city. His silhouette would have been menacing to some, but a great comfort to others, and for the second time that day, Molly found herself wondering what exactly it was about Batman that had such a profound effect upon Selina.

But Selina was very good at wiping all emotion from her face when she wanted to, and as they continued walking, Molly remained silent.

* * *

The first day of the girls' trip went by in a blur of sun and sand and food, and when the night came, Molly made sure it was filled with good drinks and better music. She spotted a cute little bar on the shore, where a live band was playing soft music that sounded like a mix of something Hawaiian and the kind of music heard every day back home in Nassau.

Selina gamely let Molly drag her up to the bar, and once they were seated, Molly announced, "Okay. This is what I've been looking forward to the most all day. And you're drinking with me, because drinking alone is sad and pathetic."

Selina chuckled as Molly ordered herself a mojito, and for a moment Selina drew a blank - how long had it been since she'd actually drank, aside from the occasional wine or champagne handed to her by Bruce? She didn't even particularly like drinking, at least not in excess, but, when in Rome...

"Long island iced tea for her," Molly piped up, pointing to Selina with her thumb.

Selina raised a brow as the bartender shuffled off. "Well, so much for easing into a night of drinking."

Molly laughed. "We've only got three days, so let's make the most of it. Ooh! How many guys do you think will hit on us tonight?"

Selina took a look around them, taking note of the people filling up the beach. The sun had long set, and there was a good-sized group of folks congregated under torches that lined the area. Some were couples, others were singles, and most were men, a good number of whom were in fact checking out the two new ladies at the bar.

Just as their drinks got set in front of them, two of the guys appeared at Molly and Selina's sides, each putting a bill down to pay the bartender as they flashed winning smiles.

"Hi," the man at Selina's side grinned, taking the seat next to hers and leaning against the counter. "I'm Charles."

"Selina," she replied, after sipping her drink. She glanced over and saw the other guy giving Molly the same treatment, then heard Molly's sudden nervous giggle, and it suddenly hit Selina how a lack of a filter plus drinking could be quite humorously perilous for Molly.

"Charles" was decent enough looking, tall and sandy-haired, dressed as casually as everyone else there and clutching a bottle of beer. He grinned some more and said, "Selina. Very pretty name. Here on vacation?"

"Actually, yes," she replied. "You?"

"Same. I'm from Minnesota. My family's got a beach house down here, so I figured I'd get away from the snow for a week or two. Where are you from?"

"I live in the Bahamas, actually," Selina grinned. The man's eyes widened.

"The Bahamas? And you go on vacation to the Keys?"

She chuckled and took another sip. "Life's too short to spend it anywhere other than paradise, right?"

"Yeah, if you can," Charles agreed. "Nice. So you here with a boyfriend or... husband?"

"Nope," she replied. "Just my best friend."

By the look on his face, the man appeared to take this to mean that she had no boyfriend or husband, and he hadn't noticed the giant diamond on her left hand either. "All right. Can I buy you another drink?"

Selina looked down and realized she'd drank almost all of her first one. It hadn't kicked in yet. She grinned and said, "Sure, why not?"

* * *

An hour passed, and Molly was already on her way to being plastered. She was laughing at jokes that weren't funny and saying everything that popped into her head, extremely loudly - including at one point, when her own drink-buyer, Brian, said something about an upcoming movie, "Oh my _God_, Robert Downey Jr.! _God_, I would do such filthy things to him, literally, anything - no, I'm serious, anything" - and when Selina began to tire of Charles' second rate conversations, she grabbed Molly's hand and slid out of her chair.

After almost falling herself, Selina laughed at nothing in particular and dragged Molly out of her own seat. Molly then immediately fell against her, and Selina pushed her upright and dragged her off towards the small group of dancing patrons while whispering, "I'm sick of those guys, let's dance and then ditch them."

"I think they're funny!" Molly said loudly, giggling as she tried not to trip over her own feet. "And Brian said, he said, he told me I looked like some chick on some TV show."

"How sweet," Selina snorted, turning and making Molly stand still by holding her shoulders. They were now in the middle of the dancers. "How drunk are you?"

Molly laughed through her closed-mouth smile. "What makes you think I'm drunk?"

"Aw, _Jesus_," Selina rolled her eyes. "Just dance with me, okay?"

"Okay!" Molly chirped, almost falling over on herself.

Selina couldn't help it. She started laughing until she was almost in tears, because she was drunk too, and everything was ridiculous, and it was awesome.

The two guys tried to get dances with them but Selina grabbed Molly each time and shook them off, enjoying using a man for his money and then ignoring him just as much as she always had before.

She would have been good to dance for a while longer, but Molly reached the point of barely being able to stand on her own feet and kept falling on other people, Selina decided it was time to get a cab back to Islamorada.

Molly threw up out of the backseat window twice on the way back, and as Selina marveled at how drunk the other girl had gotten, and how easily and quickly, Molly would groan and mumble about never wanting to drink again. Selina, still in the happy stage of drunkenness, laughed like an idiot.

It took a bit of effort, but after leaving the taxi driver a huge tip and grabbing their things, Selina helped Molly inside of the cottage and set her down on the couch in the front room. The next time she turned around, Molly was passed out and snoring softly.

Selina laughed and took the opportunity to grab her phone out of Molly's purse, and after kicking off her shoes, she stumbled down the hallway and fell into the first bedroom she found. She dragged herself into the bed and then held up her phone in front of her face, focusing intensely as she tried to make her tingling fingers work and find Bruce's number.

When she finally found success and had dialed him, she put the phone to her ear and closed her eyes. He answered on the third ring.

"I hope this is important," came Bruce's voice.

"Why? Did I wake you up?"

"You might have, but that's not the point. I told you not to call or text me."

Suddenly, she remembered one of the side effects that alcohol had on her, as just the sound of Bruce's voice made her mind fill with unspeakable thoughts. "Well... Molly's passed out, and I'm still awake, so... the only way I could think of to enjoy myself was to call you."

"Mmm," he muttered. "Are you drunk?"

"I might be," she replied, then laughed.

He groaned. "You're drunk-dialing me... nice."

"Hey, you told me to have fun, so I did. I drank, and I flirted, and Molly puked out of a car window." She laughed again.

"I don't really want to hear about the flirting part," Bruce muttered. "But I'm glad you're having fun."

"I'd be having more fun if you were here with me," Selina replied, suggestively. "I'm here in this big bed... well, it's kind of small, actually... but anyway, I'm in this bed, all alone, and my mind is... racing right now."

Bruce was silent for a moment, and then he asked, "Are you trying to have phone sex with me?"

"Why, do you want me to?" She smiled as she listened to him laugh softly.

"I'm going to need a drink myself if that's what you want," Bruce replied.

"Oh, come on, you boy scout," Selina chided. "Tell me what you'd do if you were with me right now."

"I've always been more a fan of showing, not telling."

She could hear the grin in his voice, but she huffed and said, "You're not going to play along, are you?"

"That depends. Are you going to let me hang up and go back to sleep if I don't?"

"Nope," Selina replied.

"... Fine."

But before Selina could laugh and gloat over her victory, she heard the slightly mechanical sound of crying over the baby monitor that was surely just a few inches from Bruce's head. "Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding me."

Bruce chuckled. "Blame your son, not me."

"Ugh. Call me back when you're done with him."

"I'm sure you'll be passed out by then yourself."

"No, I'll be up. Bye."

"Bye."

She dropped her phone to the bed and rolled her eyes. Exactly two minutes later, she was asleep.

* * *

With the next morning came a quiet, silent breakfast at a nearby cafe. Molly stared into her coffee cup with bloodshot eyes and rubbed her head, while Selina fought to make herself eat a muffin.

"Don't let me do that again," Molly groaned, dropping her head down on to the table. "That was stupid... and not worth it... I think I might actually die."

Selina swallowed a bite of the muffin, knowing she wouldn't feel better until she had eaten something. It wasn't easy. "Lightweight."

Molly raised her head just enough to glare at Selina with one blue eye. "You don't look too hot yourself, either."

"I had about twice the amount of alcohol you had. Or more. And you puked out of a car window."

Molly's eyes widened. "I did?"

Selina nodded. "Twice."

Molly groaned again and dropped her head back down. "Okay... no more drinking. Ever."

Aside from breakfast and a generous dose of Tylenol, the girls decided to take the luxurious approach to choosing a hangover cure, and spent the bulk of that day at a spa. Then it was lunch, then back to the beach, and despite the rocky start to the day, the trip was starting to hit it's groove and serve it's purpose. Selina was losing her urge to check her phone every five minutes, she was laughing a lot more, and the anxious knot that had lived in her gut since the day Thomas was born had finally eased.

It wasn't until the end of that second night, when Molly and Selina were on the couch in the living room, in the middle of watching a movie, when Selina remembered that she still had some explaining to do.

* * *

The movie was an old one, black and white, plucked from a huge movie collection they found in the master bedroom, and it was a glamorous tale of a thief falling in love with her pursuer, a detective hot on her trail. The irony was painfully obvious.

"So," Molly said as the movie neared it's end, "is this how you and Bruce met, basically?"

"More or less," Selina replied. "But you already know that story."

"Yeah," Molly said. "Although I'm still wondering what exactly I saw between you and Blake a couple weeks ago."

It was painful, literally painful, for Selina to try to find the words to tell the story with. She still wasn't sure how much she was willing to spill, and her instinct would always be to keep her secrets hidden and locked away. It was a big, big step that she was taking, and she didn't take it lightly.

"It's not any of my business, I guess," Molly said, "but, the more time goes on, the more I wonder. For example... I know you were a thief, you told me that a long time ago. But, see, here's what I see from my perspective - this insanely hot, secretive couple buys the island I live on, builds a house next door, and turns out to have a slightly illegal backstory. Which is fine, I guess, I mean, I don't judge, or I try not to. But then I see... what I saw that day, and what I heard you say. And you were a totally different person. It was kind of terrifying. So then I start to think, well, why _did_ you guys leave the states and decide to live as secluded as humanly freaking possible? I know there's got to be more to it all. And technically, no, it's not my business, but you're my best friend and our kids are gonna grow up together. So I kinda do have a right to know."

Selina sighed, staring at the television but not registering anything on it. "No, you're right. You do." She took a deep breath. "I was a thief, yes. I was the best at what I did. But I made some... bad decisions along the way. Got involved with some people that I shouldn't have. Did what I had to do to survive, which turned out to be some pretty bad things. Bruce gave me a way out, and a way to start over."

"How?"

Selina hesitated. "Let's just say that I technically don't exist anymore. At least not in terms of who I was."

"When you say you did bad things..."

"Kidnapping important people. Making deals with the devil to save my own skin. Handing over good people to bad people in return for not getting killed."

"Did you ever kill anyone?" Molly asked, her voice suddenly smaller than before.

"Honestly," Selina sighed, "yes, but it was always really self defense. It was kill or be killed, and when you've got a group of thugs shooting at you... you do what you have to do. That's not something I have guilt about."

Selina looked at the younger woman, expecting to find fear or alarm in her eyes, but instead she saw a quiet acceptance and something that looked like confirmation of what she'd already been thinking.

"And Bruce?" she asked. "For all I know about him, he could have been an ax murderer who would blast 'Hip to Be Square' while he chopped people up."

Selina couldn't help but laugh a little bit, and Molly did the same. "No, he was definitely never an ax murderer. He..." She tried again to find the right words, but failed, and decided to simply do her best. "His life was his city. He lost a lot to it, but he gave it more. He gave it everything he had. And when he was finally ready to let it go... I helped him leave it behind and start over."

"So... okay, you told me before that you stole that necklace from him, and that's what started everything," Molly said, her brain trying to process it all. "How did it go from that to starting over together?"

"We were drawn to each other," Selina replied simply. "We shouldn't have been, but we were."

"I get the feeling that I'm still not getting the whole story."

Selina paused and exhaled. "No, you're not. There's parts that I honestly don't know how to tell you."

"So just tell me about you, then," Molly suggested. "Your parents, your life, how you ended up doing what you did."

"That... is going to be a long conversation." Selina sighed and got up from the couch. "I'm going to need wine if we're gonna go there."

* * *

At first, Molly eyed the vintage red wine that Selina dug out with intense fear, after spending the whole morning recovering from last night's drinking, but eventually she found courage and took a glass. Selina had two and half as she recounted her story, all the way from her childhood to her father's abuse, then to her days as a runaway and a protege/toy of her repulsive mentor, and finally to her young adulthood. She even explained who Eric really was and how they met.

Molly nearly choked on her wine. "You... you did _what_?!"

"Had sex on top of a safe and then robbed it together," Selina grinned.

"You...I don't like you," Molly said in disbelief. "First you tell me the motorcycle-cave thing, and now this."

Selina shrugged with a grin. "Well, the best part was afterwards. We agreed to split the 'earnings', and once we were clear, I dragged him into this empty penthouse I stayed in sometimes - the owners were never there - and got him all worked up for a second round. The second his guard was down I grabbed his share from him and ran off. I think he fell in love that night."

Molly nearly choked again. "God! I don't even... I have no words. Seriously, I hate you and admire you and wish I was you all at once. It's officially ridiculous."

"Yeah," Selina smiled. "I agree."

"But you deserve it, after that hell you went through as a kid," Molly said. "Really. You deserve every good thing that you have. I hope you know that."

"That's what Bruce says," Selina sighed, "but I'm not so sure."

"Well, you should listen to him. And me. Because it's the truth."

"I still feel nothing for Thomas," Selina admitted. "It's been two months now. And just nothing."

"Look," Molly sighed, "I did a ridiculous amount of research on post partum depression while we weren't talking. And everything happened to set you up for it that could have happened - traumatic birth, separation from Thomas after the birth, breastfeeding not working, Bruce's accident - it was all basically a perfect storm of crap. And then on top of that, obviously just judging by what you've told me tonight, you've got some long-running issues about guilt and stuff that you don't sound even close to resolving. And PPD amplifies all that."

When her words seemed to go through one of Selina's ears and then out of the other, Molly took another gulp of wine and then said, "I talked to the old ladies a little while ago. When we still weren't talking. And all three of them experienced some kind of PPD or 'baby blues' at some point."

Selina's eyes widened. "You told them about all of this?"

"I was worried about you!" Molly said, her eyes apologetic. "And you know how they are, they stuff you full of food and look at you with their sweet grandmother-y eyes and you just spill everything."

Selina gritted her teeth and resolved to let her brief moment of anger go. It wasn't like Molly had been gossiping about her or talking about her condition out of anything but concern. "All right, whatever. Did they have anything helpful to say?"

Molly nodded enthusiastically. "I have a notebook at home, and I wrote down everything they told me - suggestions, things that they did that helped, stuff like that. And I wrote down a lot of what I read online too. Oh, and you know how I started school last year? Well, my major's still photography, but I switched my minor to psychology a couple of months ago, and I've got this huge book and there's a section on PPD, and..."

Selina barely heard anything after the word "notebook". Molly trailed off and realized that the other woman's eyes had a telltale shine to them, and she quickly started to worry if she'd said something wrong.

"I... did I say something?"

Selina quickly shook her head. "Nope."

"Then..."

"You really have a notebook of all this stuff?"

It was then that Molly understood why Selina looked like she was about to start crying. She wasn't angry, or annoyed, or hurt, but just entirely not used to having a friend who cared enough to spend weeks filling up a notebook for ideas of how to help her.

Molly nodded. "You know, Selina, I don't really have anyone else either. You know all those girls I had in my wedding? They call maybe once a month, and they all live in California. And you know the situation with my family. Other than Chris, and Aidan of course, you're all I've got."

Out of Selina's mouth came a barely audible "dammit", and when she wiped at her eye, Molly suddenly pulled her into a big side-hug. Selina rolled her eyes but smiled a little at the same time.

Moving to the Bahamas, Selina decided, had been worth it just for the fact of finding this amazing, and sometimes incredibly annoying, bubbly blonde girl from California.

* * *

It was with a bittersweet final day of relaxation and shopping that Selina and Molly bade farewell to the Keys. They were ready to get back to their families, but not so ready to return to the routines they'd only escaped for three days. That applied to Selina especially, who battled flutters of nervousness the whole plane ride back.

When they landed and got back to their little secluded island, Molly offered to help Selina get all of her stuff inside of her house, and Selina agreed while dragging her suitcase through the sand.

It was late at night, quite past both babies' bedtimes, and when they stepped inside Selina's mostly darkened house, the only sound to be heard was slightly muffled music coming from down the hall.

"Is that... AC/DC?" Molly asked, squinting as she tried to decipher the sound.

Selina sighed. "I'm going to kick his ass."

"Why?" Molly asked, dropping what she had in her arms and following Selina as she stomped down the hall.

"You'll see," Selina replied. A moment later, she reached the fifth door down the long hallway and opened it with a scowl. The music then hit their ears full-blast as Molly peeked around Selina's shoulder to get clear view of Bruce, shirtless and in the middle of a disturbingly rapid set of push-ups.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Selina shouted over the music. "Are you trying to reinjure yourself?"

Bruce's eyes lit up when he looked up to see his fiancée standing in the doorway, and he sat back on his legs to reach across to where an iPod was docked to turn it off. Then he got to his feet, and Selina kept ranting while he started walking to her, and all Molly could do was gape silently at how horrifyingly scarred he was.

"Good to see you, too," Bruce grinned, shutting Selina up as he kissed her. It was a short, mostly chaste kiss, and when Bruce opened his eyes, he noticed Molly's eyes glued to his right side. She was ogling the permanent reminder of Talia's parting gift to him, and by her look of bewilderment, Bruce suspected that Selina hadn't spilled any of his secrets during their getaway.

"Molly," Bruce nodded, and Molly quickly snapped her eyes up and plastered a polite smile on her face.

"Yeah," she stammered, "hi. Just helping Selina bring her stuff in. I should go. See you guys tomorrow?"

Selina nodded. "Sure. Thanks."

Molly nodded and hurried off, and Selina waited until she heard the front door close to give Bruce's shoulder a half-swat. "Seriously, are you stupid?"

He chuckled and grabbed her hands, pulling her closer. "I'm fine, Selina. Really, you worry too much. I feel fine."

She rolled her eyes and wriggled her hands free of his grasp. "You're still an idiot. Kids asleep?"

Bruce nodded. "Yeah, but Helena's in our bed. Can you move her to her room, and then I'll be in there in a minute?"

Selina nodded, her eyes trailing down his chest as she moved slowly out of the door. "I think you gave Molly a heart attack."

Bruce shrugged. "I wasn't expecting her to be behind you."

Selina gave him a look and then headed towards their bedroom. She didn't mind Molly seeing the scars. On some level, she hoped it would help Molly put the puzzle together herself so that Selina never had to say the words out loud.

She found Helena nestled quite comfortably in the center of their bed, on her side with her hands up near her face, and her little pink lips parted slightly as she slept soundly. Selina smiled at the sweet little girl and picked her up gently, careful not to wake her as she took Helena to her room.

Helena didn't so much as twitch during the transfer, and afterwards, Selina decided to drop in on Thomas before going back to her room.

He was asleep in his crib, on his back with his arms up and hands flat on either side of his head, warm under a blanket decorated with little footballs, baseballs, and soccer balls. Selina leaned over the wooden rails and looked down upon him, reaching down to brush some of his dark brown hair back from his forehead. It wasn't a little tiny patch of hair anymore, having grown to thinly cover the top of his head since his birth. He was healthier looking now, plump like his sister was at his age, and the relief at seeing him without tubes up his nose or monitor leeds stuck to his chest was still palpable.

She was brushing her finger over his smooth little cheek as she got ready to leave, another failed attempt at feeling anything new, but his eyes fluttered open and stopped her short.

Thomas looked up at her, with big brown eyes that mirrored her own so perfectly, and then to her surprise, as recognition dawned on him, his mouth stretched into a smile underneath his pacifier. He smiled so wide that the pacifier fell out, and that was when it finally happened.

It wasn't like a ton of bricks hitting her all at once, or a wave of sudden, overwhelming emotion that washed away the last two months and left her feeling perfectly whole again. Instead, it was a gentle tug to the heart, soft and sweet but undeniably significant, a spark of what she'd been berating herself for being unable to feel this whole time.

She gently placed the pacifier back in his mouth, and as he started sucking on it, his eyes closed and he drifted back to asleep. It had been his first smile, and it had caught her completely by the best kind of surprise, unlike Bruce's presence behind her. He'd never be able to sneak up on her, no matter how hard he tried.

"Spying on me?" she asked quietly, still looking down upon her son. Bruce answered her with a kiss to the side of her neck.

One of his hands tangled with hers, and pulled gently to turn her to him. She obliged, and instead of meeting his eyes, she hugged him.

Bruce let out a breath at the sweet gesture, embracing her back and running a hand down her hair as he whispered, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

She nodded against his shoulder. "It was a good trip. I'm glad you made me go."

"Good."

Bruce was the first to pull away, again taking one of her hands in his as he started to lead her out of the room. They didn't say a word to each other until they had crossed the hall and entered their own room, then stood in front of the door after Bruce quietly closed it.

He looked her over, his hands moving to her face as his eyes trailed from the bottom up, until they stopped on the pearls fastened to her ears. "Those are very nice."

"I thought so," Selina replied.

"I didn't see any recent transactions for a jewelry store over the last three days."

Selina cocked her head and grinned, "Well, well, you sure were keeping a close eye on me, huh?"

He gave her an amused smile of his own. "Did you enjoy it? The rush? Was it everything it used to be?"

There was no point in playing coy. There was also no point in lying. "It was fun. But no. It wasn't as satisfying as it used to be."

Bruce nodded, one of his fingers running over one of the earrings as he asked, "What was the name of the store?"

"I don't remember. It was in Key West, the highest-end jewelry store that I saw. Why?"

His hands moved to her hips, pulling her closer. "I've missed you."

"Doesn't answer my question," she replied, watching his eyes fall to her lips as she spoke.

"No, but I did. A lot."

His words from their last conversation floated through her mind, and her voice melted to a purr as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Show me, don't tell me."

Then she was off her feet and in his arms, his mouth ravenous as it claimed hers, and before she could squeak out one word to him about potentially hurting his back, she was already on her back and in bed, underneath him and and reveling in being there.

Absence did indeed make the heart grow fonder, even if the absence was only three days long, and what a beautiful thing it was to come home again.

* * *

While Selina enjoyed her homecoming, Molly made Christian hold off for a few moments while she made a beeline to her laptop. She spent half an hour fending off his questions of when she would be done and what in bloody hell was so important that it required Googling when there were so many other things they could be doing. She ignored him, and felt her eyes widen as she scrolled through the results of her search.

There had been hints everywhere, but it had taken seeing Bruce's myriad of bodily scars to make sense of them all. Now she was looking at a host of pictures from several years ago and skimming through articles, finding more clues and piecing them all together.

First was an article and a photo of a statue in Gotham's city hall, the one honoring the city's fallen Dark Knight, and at the end of the article were links to several other stories. One was a story about the converting of building called "Wayne Manor" to an orphanage, a home that had been under the care of a man named Alfred Pennyworth until the change. The two names - Wayne and Alfred - made Molly's head spin, and for the life of her, she couldn't remember if she'd ever learned what her neighbor Alfred's last name was.

She continued to click around on different items, until she came to a gallery of photos pertaining to Bane's occupation of Gotham. Much had been speculated about when it came to the final battle there, as understandably very few photos existed of the event. There was the official version of events that had been released to the public, but there were some loopholes and unknowns when it came to the story. One example was a lone photo that existed of a masked woman, dressed in all black and riding atop a motorcycle that was known to belong to Batman, shooting the cannons into a large truck in front of her.

Molly clicked the photo and zoomed in. The woman had long, straight, chestnut brown hair, and the more Molly stared at the photo, the more she started to go into shock.

She sat back and stared over the monitor, everything suddenly making sense, even down to Thomas' onesie and the way Selina would look and speak whenever Batman's name was mentioned. The strange way she'd stared at the painting in Key West also now made sense.

It _all_ made sense. And yet, it also made _no_ sense, because Batman had been incinerated by a nuclear bomb.

Molly closed her laptop, and proceeded to stay up all night on the verge of completely freaking out.

* * *

It didn't take a lot of effort for Bruce to figure out which store in Key West that Selina had stolen her pearl earrings from. True, he'd given her the green light to steal if she so desired, but that didn't mean he didn't fully plan on going behind her and repaying every last cent she didn't spend. So, the next morning, he had placed a check in an envelope addressed to the store and stuffed it into his inner jacket pocket as he prepared to head into town.

He and Selina had stayed up far too long last night, and luckily for her, the kids were having a lazy morning, and they were all sleeping in. He slipped away without anyone noticing, but just as he got to the front door and opened it to leave, he nearly barreled into a familiar blonde on the other side of it.

"Molly," he said, immediately noticing how odd she looked. Her eyes went wide when she saw him, and she looked as if she'd been pacing on his porch for an unknown number of minutes before he'd opened the door. "Is something wrong?"

Molly continued to stare at him, looking a bit spastic and disheveled - her left eye seemed to be actually twitching a bit - and he tentatively asked, "... Molly?"

Finally, she seemed to gather her courage and blurted out, "You're freakin' Batman, aren't you?"

**A/N: First of all, I apologize for the late-ish update. I ran into some unfortunate writer's block, but thanks to the ideas and help of midnightwings96 and the encouraging of more than a few others (seriously, I whined to errrbody :p), I overcame it! Woo hoo! And I figure since this is one of the longest chapters yet, a few days extra wait was ok :p Anyway, thank you to everyone who continues to review, you all make my day and are full of awesomeness :D I love you all and shall try to not take so long next time :D**

**A/N #2: Iron Man 3 this week, thus the RDJ reference here :) I'm fangirling as much as Molly already. Heck, when do I NOT fangirl like her? And (fake, imaginary) cookies to you who also spotted the American Psycho reference. Honestly, I have a problem. I don't think it's normal to love that movie as much as I do. O.o "Is that a raincoat?" "Yes it _is!_" Ok, shutting up now...**


	30. Chapter 30

"Molly. Calm down."

"Answer me! No, I'm serious, I want an answer. Now."

Undeterred, Bruce continued to lead the small, twitching girl into his kitchen, easily fending off her weak attempts to shake off his hands. "Sit down first, and breathe. Then I'll give you an answer."

Molly allowed herself to be sat down at the kitchen table, and she narrowed her eyes at Bruce as he sat in front of her. "Well?"

As Bruce opened his mouth to speak, Selina came trudging in from the hall. Thomas was awake in her arms and Helena was trailing behind her. "What's going..." Selina's groggy voice trailed off when she saw the slightly crazed look in Molly's eyes.

Bruce sighed, looked Molly fully in the eyes, and spoke one simple word. "Yes."

Molly didn't say anything. She didn't move. She simply continued to stare at her neighbor, this man who just happened to be a former vigilante who was supposed to be a pile of ash in Gotham's bay, who used to beat criminals to a pulp every night with his bare hands, who was such a badass that he could wear a cape and bat ears and not look like a ridiculous idiot, and she'd been living next door to him for the last two years. As if he was just any other man who was rich enough to buy an island and open a free hospital another island over. Bruce Wayne - clearly the same one from the tabloids, the same prince of Gotham, now legally dead and living under the same name but a new identity in paradise - was Batman. And he was her neighbor, and fiancé of her best friend. Who had fought alongside Batman and helped save Gotham.

In Molly's sleep-deprived but sharp eyes, basically, she was living next door to two superheroes.

"Molly."

Bruce's voice brought Molly back to the present moment. She looked at him, then at Selina, who hadn't yet come to understand what she was watching.

"I'm gonna need a minute," Molly finally said. Bruce nodded and glanced back at Selina. Whatever look they shared seemed to enlighten Selina at last, and she let out a breath of relief at the girl having apparently figured it out. She certainly never wanted to have to say the words herself.

"So... how are you not dead?" Molly asked quietly.

"The aircraft I flew had an autopilot program," Bruce explained calmly. Helena came toddling over to him and climbed up in his lap, and Selina quietly took a seat at the table with Thomas. Molly let her eyes scan over each of them once more.

"You guys know I've got no filter," Molly said, her eye not twitching anymore. "So I'm sorry in advance for whatever word vomit comes out of my mouth as I wrap my head around this."

Selina leaned forward a bit. "Molly -"

"Can I kiss him?"

Selina's voice faltered, and both she and Bruce stared at Molly. "What?"

"Your fiancé," Molly said. "Can I kiss him? Just once? Just for like one second. Or two. Well, under ten. Maybe."

"You find this out," Selina noted, ignoring how Bruce was chuckling under his breath, "and that's the first thing that comes to your mind?"

"Batman is sitting in front of me," Molly said with wide, convincing eyes, "and he's alive, and gorgeous, and he's sitting there with his daughter like it's the most normal thing in the world for Batman to sit in a freaking kitchen with his little girl and fiancée and neighbor, so yes, that's the first thing that comes to my mind. So, can I? Christian's always said that if I ever really needed to kiss someone - like if I found out they were a dead superhero, for example - that it was okay, as long as it's under thirty seconds."

Selina stared blankly at Molly while Bruce covered his mouth to keep from laughing. For a moment, Molly thought that Selina might be actually offended, but then Selina burst out laughing through her lips.

"Is that a yes?" Molly asked hopefully.

"Hell no," Selina said, still laughing. "Nice try, though."

Bruce grinned and set Helena down, then looked around at the women as he asked, "Alright, is everybody okay here? I do have to leave."

Molly stared up at him, as admiration, exhaustion, and the remainders of her shock colored her blue eyes, and she said nothing as Selina nodded. "We're fine. If she was gonna go catatonic, she'd be there already."

Molly continued to stare as Bruce nodded, then leaned across the table to kiss Selina and his son goodbye. She smiled stupidly when he nodded an amused goodbye to her, then kissed Helena before disappearing out the door.

As soon as he was gone, Molly tore her eyes away from the door and stared wide-eyed at Selina. "You have sex with _Batman_ every night."

Selina rolled her eyes. "You have the worst one-track mind of anyone I've ever met, you know that? Of all the things you could be saying or asking me right now, _that's_ where your mind goes."

"But you do."

"No," Selina shook her head. "He's more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?" Molly asked.

Selina sighed, though she couldn't deny how amused she was at the moment. "I mean that sometimes I don't know who's gonna come to bed, Bruce or Batman. And sometimes he doesn't know which side of me he's gonna get either."

Molly leaned on the table, beyond intrigued. "Oh my God, I think you're actually trying to kill me. Tell me more."

Selina laughed. "Seriously, Molly, isn't there anything else you'd like me to elaborate on for you?"

"At the moment, no," Molly insisted.

Selina shook her head, glancing down at Thomas in her arms before replying, "Batman's not just something he did. It's a part of him. He can be the most gentle, loving, giving man in the world. He can also be a possessive animal. And sometimes he's both at once."

Molly appeared riveted. "Holy... _crap_."

"But I'm the same," Selina shrugged. "And we both know how to get what we want from each other, depending on our mood. Now, is that enough to satisfy your curiosity?"

"... You're marrying Batman," Molly observed, eyes unfocused as they stared down at the table. "You had kids with Batman." Then she gasped and snapped her eyes up. "You have Bat-kids!"

Selina groaned. _Wonderful_. Now Molly would be applying a "Bat" prefix to everything.

"Okay," Selina said in an effort to change the subject, "so how did you figure it out? Can't be the scars, because last night was hardly the first time you've seen him shirtless."

"Well... actually, it _was_ the scars," Molly replied. "I've just always tried not to gawk before. Like when I was doing your guys' pictures. I saw a few of them but I didn't think much of it. Even Christian's got a few scars, it's not like they're unheard of. But last night was the first time I saw that he's got that many. And that one on his side..."

"Yeah," Selina replied. "He's seen a lot."

"But... anyway, I noticed the way you'd look when I said the word 'Batman', and how you stared at that painting we saw in the Keys. And Thomas' onesie thing was another hint. And a few things you said. Then I saw the scars and started thinking, and then... I Googled the crap out of Batman and Gotham. And Bane."

Selina nodded. At this point, Molly already knew everything, so what harm was there in further shocking the girl with more knowledge? Selina grinned and said, "I killed Bane."

Molly stared. "Are you kidding me?"

Selina shook her head. "Nope. Shot him with the cannons on the BatPod."

Molly blinked. She recalled the photo of Selina on that strange and sleek motorcycle that she'd discovered on Google, and then something else clicked in her head. "BatPod... was that the one involved in the cave-sex thing?"

Selina rolled her eyes. "Okay. I'm going to need my morning coffee if everything is going to come back to sex."

"Sorry!" Molly smiled as Selina got up from the table to start clanking around in the kitchen. "I can't help it."

Selina put Thomas in a bouncy seat on the floor, then tossed Helena into her high chair, and cast Molly a sideways glance. "Do you need coffee? Or food? Or sleep?"

"All three, but they can wait," Molly said. "So... you guys were in the middle of all of that stuff with Bane, then. Like all of it."

Selina nodded, going about her business as Molly's brain continued to work. "Then, were you kind of like... Batman's sidekick?"

"No," Selina replied. "The opposite, actually."

Molly watched the older woman crack a few eggs into a bowl, and asked, "How?"

Selina took a deep breath and turned around, deciding to rip the proverbial band-aid. "Remember how I said I got involved with bad people? I was looking for something called a clean slate. Erases your identity, your whole life, within a matter of minutes. I made a deal with a man named John Dagget. Bruce Wayne's fingerprints in exchange for the clean slate. I held up my end, and of course, he didn't. He was also involved with Bane. Batman saved my life when a group of Bane's men were going to kill me. I repaid Bruce by handing him over to Bane on a silver platter."

"What happened?" Molly asked, wide-eyed.

"I couldn't outrun him," Selina said, turning back to the eggs that were scrambling in the frying pan in front of her. "It was the only way to keep him from killing me. But I didn't know who Batman was until it was too late. I was stupid. I should have known. Anyway... he broke Bruce's back and took him halfway around the world to rot in a pit. I didn't know if he was alive or dead or where he was, what they had done to him, until the day before the bomb went off. Then he came back, gave me the clean slate in return for my help, and..."

"And you guys basically saved the day together?"

"You could say that."

"Damn..." Molly marveled. "So is that why he had to get that back surgery?"

Selina nodded. She shook the panful of eggs on to Helena's tray and then glanced at Molly, expecting to see judgement or worse. But Molly just looked as dazed and in awe as she had all morning. "Yep. Pretty awful of me, huh?"

"You didn't know who he was," Molly said. "And like you said, you did it because you thought they'd kill you. So it's understandable, I guess."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Now you sound like Bruce."

"Well, he obviously doesn't hold it against you," Molly said as Selina took her seat back, cradling a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Because he's an idiot," Selina replied.

Molly smiled a little bit, now finally understanding some of why Selina seemed to carry so much guilt and other unresolved conflicts with her. "When did you guys... you know... were you together back then?"

"No," Selina replied. "He had someone else at the time. Well... not really _had_ them, but... there was another woman around back then. She ended up giving him that nice scar on his side."

"My God," Molly breathed. "So then when did you get together?"

"I kissed him when I thought he was walking to his death," Selina replied. "And he let me think he was dead for a couple of months. I used the clean slate, moved to Italy, started over. And then one night he showed up in my apartment."

"And the rest is history?" Molly asked.

Selina shrugged. "Well... I kept running away from him. He kept pulling me back. We ended up back in Gotham, when an... old enemy forced him to come back. I went with him."

Molly stared at Selina for a moment before clapping her hand over her mouth. "The Joker! And that thing with the President! Oh my God! That was you guys, wasn't it?"

Selina shook her head. "No, that was me and someone else. Bruce has a post-concussive thing, and the first fight that he got in put him in a coma for three days."

"Holy crap..." Molly was now leaning her head on her hand, absorbing all of the information with growing incredulity and shock. "I can't believe all of this."

Selina shrugged and sipped her coffee. "Welcome to my life."

"How did you guys end up here?"

"Well," Selina sighed, "I had made a comment in passing about going somewhere warm, somewhere private, some kind of island somewhere, after we were done in Gotham. He took it to heart and actually bought one. Then some more messed up, ridiculous stuff happened, and the Joker ended up dead at the hands of this girl who was obsessed with him. I was recovering from the bastard stabbing me when I found out that I was pregnant. As I panicked and had five thousand meltdowns, we came here. And you know the rest."

"I think I might have to scream. Just a little bit. Just to get it out," Molly said, nodding to herself.

"I think you need to go home and get some sleep before you completely spaz out," Selina said. Helena seemed to find the word "spaz" to be hilarious and laughed through a mouthful of eggs.

"How was I supposed to sleep when I found out that my neighbor was freakin' Batman? It's kind of a huge deal, especially when you're me, and you freak out over everything anyway."

"I guess," Selina said, a short moment of silence fell.

"So... are you sure I can't kiss him?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I'd make it really fast."

"No."

"I wouldn't put any tongue in it, either."

"Molly," Selina said sternly, "no."

Silence fell again, until Molly piped up a moment later and said, "Not even for, like, five seconds?"

Selina sighed. "Molly, go home. Go kiss your husband."

"I'd let you kiss Chris if you wanted."

Selina laughed. "Well, that's generous of you, I guess, but I don't want to."

"Yeah, no kidding, you've got Batman to make out with!" Molly huffed. "It's kind of sickening, you know that? I mean, after all you've told me about Eric, and Bruce, and now Bruce is also Batman, as if he could get any more amazing than he already was... I'm gonna freak out."

"You're already freaking out."

With that, Selina got up to put her mug in the sink and grab something to munch on herself. By the time she got back to the table, she found Molly face down on the table, passed out.

Selina rolled her eyes and got out her phone to text Christian to come and retrieve his wife. She then sent a text to Bruce that she knew he'd delete as soon as he read it. _Turns out we don't just have kids, we have Bat-kids._

* * *

Bruce grinned down at his phone before deleting the text with a swipe of his thumb. He received another one in the same moment. _And when you wake up in the morning you drink Bat-coffee. Then go to Bat-work. And come home and have Bat-sex before you go to sleep._

He deleted that one too, chuckling as he passed through the hallways of the hospital on his way to the elevators. In reply, he typed, _Technically, I'd be having Cat-sex and you'd be having Bat-sex._

The elevator doors closed in front of him, and as the floors ticked by, his phone buzzed again. _Gross. Interspecies sex. If you think about an actual cat and bat, it's pretty disgusting._

_I try not to_, he typed in response. _Did Molly have an aneurysm?_

He got a reply as he left the elevator and headed towards his office on the top floor. _She's fine. Passed out face down on the table. Still wants you to kiss her._

Bruce shook his head in amusement. _Gotta love her._

And with that, he walked into his office and went about starting another day at work.

* * *

A bit later, back at the house, Selina found herself in the middle of an unexpected argument with Alfred.

"Alfred, really - this is unnecessary. You've watched the kids for us so much over the last two months..."

"And it's been my pleasure," Alfred said as Helena barreled into his legs and held up her arms as high as she could to him. He obliged and picked her up. "You have no idea how many years I spent wishing that I was chasing around Bruce's little kids instead of stitching up his wounds."

"But..."

"But nothing, Selina," Alfred replied, and the use of her first name brought her pause. They'd all come a long way from the days of formal addresses and distrust, that was undeniable. "I'm going to take Helena for the day, and you're going to do nothing but laze around with Thomas."

Selina narrowed her eyes. "This was Bruce's idea, obviously."

"Molly's, actually, but one that Bruce thought was a good one," Alfred said. "Something called a 'babymoon', whatever in bloody hell that is."

"_Babymoon_?" Selina repeated with wide eyes.

"Yes, I was told to make sure you don't have any distractions to keep you from taking it easy with your son today," Alfred said.

"But I was supposed to drop by the shelter today - I haven't been there in weeks, and -"

"That can wait another day," Alfred said gently. "I'm going to leave now. And send this little one back to you tonight stuffed so full of sugar that she doesn't sleep for days."

Alfred then smiled, and Selina knew that arguing was futile. "All right."

Helena clapped excitedly as Alfred walked out the door with her, and when they were gone, Selina turned back to look at Thomas. He was still in his bouncy seat, soon due for a bottle, watching her with a calm but curious expression. She sighed and put her hands on her hips, feeling a bit of anxiety curling up within her, but she took a breath and fought it. After all, last night, she'd had a breakthrough, and for the first time, she felt real hope when it came to forging a bond with her son.

So, with her resolve set, she leaned down and unbuckled Thomas from the seat, and as she began to pick him up, he smiled at her as he had the previous night. She paused and smiled back, feeling that same tug take place inside.

_Yeah_, she thought during a burst of courage,_ I can do this._

* * *

Today was a rare day of slight peace for Bruce - no lawyers in his face begging him to start fighting dirty, not even any random reporters hanging around the hospital in futile attempts to get him on camera - so he decided to use it to do something he hadn't done in weeks; pick a floor of the hospital and go room to room, meeting patients and observing their care firsthand, as well as looking for areas in which he could improve operations. It was something he used to do several times a week, before his days became mired in legal and personal messes, and it was something that he missed.

He chose the Intensive Care Unit to walk through today, and most of it's occupants proved to be largely what he expected - patients recovering from heart attacks and other traumatic events, one or two who were comatose, and only a few who were well enough to actually speak to him. But the ICU was one of the most important parts of the facility, one that he held to the highest standard of care, and a recent and very rare complaint from a parent's family had brought it to the forefront of his mind.

Most of the time, seeing with his own eyes the care that his investment was providing to folks who were too low-income to have received this level of care before was gratifying, the kind of thing that reconfirmed his decision to open the hospital in the first place. But then there were times like these, when he'd come across a patient whose story maddened and needled at him so badly that it brought back something he'd been suppressing fairly well - that nagging, bone-deep, never truly escapable hatred of injustice.

"What's her story?" Bruce asked one of the nurses, standing outside of a room and looking in through the door's window. Inside was a girl, no older than five, unconscious and beaten to an inch of her life.

"She was just brought in today," the nurse said, her tone sad. "It's been all over the local news. Her stepfather did this to her."

"Did they catch him?"

"He's dead," the nurse replied. "He killed her mother and older brother before killing himself. He must have thought that she was dead too. She almost was when they found her."

Bruce stared at the little girl, this heavily bandaged, thin, black and blue little girl lying helpless in his ICU, and swallowed before asking, "Does she have family?"

"No. There's a social worker here who's been assigned to her."

This, Bruce thought, this was what it always came back to. He could buy the best, state of the art medical equipment, run on as few profits as he could to keep the hospital open to people who couldn't afford it, and he could employ the doctors and nurses who could heal the sick and put broken people back together. But it was not preventive. It was reactionary. And in the end, this little girl's physical wounds would be the ones to hurt her the least. He knew that better than most.

"What's her name?"

The nurse didn't have to glance at her chart to know. "Jessica."

"Keep me updated on her condition, alright?" Bruce said without looking away from the window. The nurse nodded, and inwardly, Bruce felt that familiar despair creeping back up. He never could seem to outrun it for long.

With a sigh, he tore his eyes away, and tried to turn his thoughts to his own family before they became too dark.

* * *

The sound of Thomas' cries never failed to send Selina's anxiety spiking through the roof. It seemed a habit more than anything else, as his cries used to be enough to cause cardiac arrest in both herself and Bruce, during his days hooked up to home monitors and oxygen machines. But, as Bruce had proven to her before, her anxiety only set Thomas on edge himself, thus creating a vicious cycle.

She was sitting in bed with Thomas, a bottle in one hand and cradling him with her other, and she felt her frustration growing rapidly as he continued to wail. But, she was prepared for this now, and she was determined to not let the day go sour this early.

Selina placed him down on the bed, and took the moment to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. When she felt more in control and had felt the frustration subside, she picked the crying baby back up and softly settled him back into her arms.

It only took a moment of soft words and gentle rocking for Thomas to calm down enough to take the bottle. It felt like an enormous victory to Selina, far more significant than the time she'd calmed down Thomas with Bruce's help, because this time she'd done it on her own. She watched the boy as he sucked down the formula hungrily, stared into his eyes as he stared into hers, and she brushed aside his hair as she spoke softly to him.

"We can do this, right, baby?" she asked him gently. "I think we're gonna figure this out."

He smiled at her for the second time that day, and a little droplet of formula dribbled out of his mouth as he did. She chuckled and wiped his cheek, then dropped a kiss to his forehead.

Maybe this "babymoon" wasn't such a ridiculous idea after all.

* * *

Bruce picked up Helena from Alfred that night, after spending several more hours at work than he had to. The little girl was asleep by then, and didn't wake up as he carried her to her room and laid her down in her princess-pink bed. That wasn't surprising, but what was surprising was finding Selina and Thomas both asleep in the next room, snuggled up to one another under one of the baby's fuzzy blue blankets.

Bruce stood in the doorway and stared for a moment, thinking back to a time not at all long ago when he wouldn't have expected to ever see such a thing. But he'd noticed it early this morning, while Molly had been having her fit and Selina had been watching while holding Thomas - something in her eyes was different. Maybe the three-day girl's getaway had done the trick, or maybe it was that combined with something else that Bruce didn't know of. No matter what it was, he was beyond grateful to see Selina show at least an inkling of feeling towards their boy.

She didn't stir until Bruce eased himself down on the bed, opposite Selina, putting Thomas in between them. Her eyes opened slowly, and her voice was groggy as she said, "You got home late."

"Yeah," Bruce whispered before kissing Thomas' head. "How was your day?"

"You mean my 'babymoon'?"

Bruce grinned. "Yeah."

"It went fine," Selina half-grinned back. "Why'd you come home so late?"

Bruce paused as Thomas stirred and ended up squirming out of Selina's arms. He managed to get to his side and yawned before falling still once more. "I was doing some research on something I might want to do."

Selina seemed to study his eyes before asking, "What's wrong?"

He looked at her a bit wearily, but not surprised by her sharp-as-ever reading skills. "There's a little girl in the ICU. Her whole family's dead. She's barely alive herself, but they think she'll pull through. It's just... it's hard to see."

"Things like that happen every day," Selina said. "You know that better than most."

"Doesn't make it any easier," Bruce said. "Whenever I see something like that... it just reminds me that what I'm doing can't stop these things from happening. It repairs some of the damage but it does nothing to prevent it."

"Some things can't be prevented," Selina replied. "Especially by you. I mean... how do you think you could have stopped what happened to that little girl?"

Bruce shook his head. "I don't know."

Selina recognized that look in Bruce's eyes, and the only thing surprising about it was that it had taken this long for it to show up. She, for one, never thought that running a hospital would be completely fulfilling for Bruce. "Tell me what you're thinking about, Bruce."

His eyes met hers, and he replied, "I want to buy your shelter. Either move it somewhere bigger or build more to it."

"Why?"

"I want to open an orphanage," Bruce said.

"In the same building as the shelter?"

He nodded. "You could teach your classes to the kids that would be there. Especially the little girls. It would be a... safe place for women and children, anyone who needs help and doesn't know where to go."

"You're talking about some kind of shelter-orphanage supercenter," Selina pointed out.

"Yeah," Bruce nodded. "Just think if something like that had existed in Gotham when you were thirteen."

Selina thought back on those days, and later ones in her young adulthood when she actually had spent a few days at a women's shelter there in Gotham. "Who would run this place?"

"You and me," Bruce replied. "I could add a second building to the hospital and we can have it there. I can also add some rehab services to the hospital and have that available as well."

Just yesterday, Anita had called Selina and told her about two drug-addicted mothers who had showed up at the shelter. "This all sounds amazing, Bruce, really it does. But you're barely making profit as it is... how are you going to pay for all of this?"

"It'll take time," Bruce said. "And a lot of funding. But we can do it. Maybe get similar centers open in the States as well." He paused and added, "I need your help to do it. Are you with me?"

"Of course I am," Selina said. "But... is any of this ever going to really be enough for you? As long as you're committed to working within the system, you'll always end up disappointed. The system always fails eventually."

"... I don't know," Bruce answered honestly. "But I have to do the best that I can."

Selina nodded against her pillow. "You know I'll always help you, Bruce. I don't like seeing that look in your eyes."

"What look?"

She paused. "The one that tells me how hard it is for someone like you to live a normal life. And I would know. It's just as hard for me."

Bruce looked down at their sleeping son, the only barrier between them, and when his eyes met Selina's again, he said, "I used to be terrified that I couldn't do this. As much as I wanted you, and a family, there was always a voice in the back of my head telling me that I couldn't... shouldn't... do it."

"I know," Selina replied. When Bruce looked at her with a bit of surprise, she replied, "You're not aware of how often you used to sit and stare at nothing, are you? I used to think that you did that because of what happened with the Joker, but I figured it out when you'd start staring at my belly and zoning out. But you didn't do it much with Thomas."

"Well... as time goes on, I'm starting to think that the... urge and the drive to be more, and do more, will always be there. No matter what I do."

"So what's stopping that from consuming you?" Selina asked. "It would have before."

"Because when I start feeling like it might consume me," Bruce said, "I come home."

With that, he gently picked up Thomas and slowly got up from the bed. Selina watched as he placed the boy in the bassinet a few feet away, giving him a kiss before turning back and climbing back into bed.

Selina let him pull her into his arms, and he asked her a question before she could kiss him. "Something happened with Thomas, didn't it?"

She paused before answering, having enjoyed the odd sense of secrecy she'd kept around Thomas' first smiles and what they'd meant to her. Like it had been her secret with her son. "Yeah. Last night, when I took Helena to bed. I checked in on him and he woke up a little bit, and... he smiled for the first time. And he really recognized me, by the way he looked at me. I know it probably sounds stupid, but I never thought he really knew me. Like when he'd look at me it was just... blank, like he could have been looking at anyone."

"It doesn't sound stupid," Bruce replied. "I understand what you mean."

"And I spent most of today just laying here and staring at him. I think he's going to be really smart."

"You think so?" Bruce asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. I mean, Helena's smart too, of course, but he has this way of looking at things, like he's taking it all in and trying to understand it all. I don't know how to explain it. It reminds me of the look you get when you're figuring something out."

Bruce smiled and touched her cheek with his thumb as he said, "They're both gonna be brilliant."

Selina paused and let a few seconds of silence pass. "Thank you, by the way, for taking care of me."

He knew what she meant without her having to elaborate, and he was glad that forcing her out of the door with Molly for a weekend and then arranging a day for her to spend with just Thomas had paid off. Her eyes weren't dead anymore, and though they still weren't what they used to be, he'd take it. It was enough for now.

"You're welcome. I like taking care of you," he replied in a murmur, just before kissing her softly.

He only took it easy on her for another moment, before his arms tightened around her and lips grew more insistent, and the last coherent thought that Selina had that night was that she hoped someday she could take care of him half as well as he had been caring for her all of this time.

* * *

The next morning was an early one, thanks to an exuberantly awake Helena who decided that six o'clock was late enough for everyone to sleep in to. First she pulled on Bruce's hair and then loped around to Selina's side of the bed to smack her in the face, and when those efforts didn't pay off, she climbed into the bed and started jumping on their heads.

After that lovely start to the day, the family got up and took an easy breakfast to the outside deck. They ended up not minding the early morning as they watched the sunrise over the horizon, the island utterly quiet and at peace as a new day began.

Thomas was in a swing that Bruce had dragged out on to the deck for him, Helena was down in the sand making a mess of herself, and Selina was in Bruce's lap, laying her head on his shoulder and letting the morning float lazily over them. His eyes were closed and his hand was moving slowly up and down her back, stopping when he'd momentarily nod back off and then picking back up when something would jar him back awake. Selina silently ran her fingers through his hair, keeping her eyes open and on the little ones as she unwittingly lulled him back to sleep with those soothing fingers.

The peace and quiet was only interrupted when a chirping voice started wafting through the air, and when a bleary-eyed Molly stepped out on to her own deck with Aidan in tow, she glanced to her right and saw her neighbors having their own early morning. Selina suppressed laughter when Molly looked at them wide-eyed and then quickly looked away, unable to hide the shock that was still in her eyes from yesterday's revelations.

Helena looked up from her sand-digging long enough to notice Molly's presence, and with a big smile she started making her way over to the blonde. Molly set Aidan down in the sand - he had taken his first steps a few weeks ago but was still learning how to walk - and Selina kissed the side of Bruce's neck to wake him up. "Bruce."

"Mmm," he said quickly, jerking his head up and looking around. "What?"

"You can go back to bed for awhile if you want," she said gently.

"No, I'm fine," he insisted. "Where's... never mind." They both looked over to Helena long enough to see the little girl push Aidan down and then laugh about it.

"She never has warmed up to him," Selina sighed. Then Helena turned around and laughed some more, then started bounding up to the deck like she was proud of herself.

But, to both Bruce and Selina's surprise, Helena then followed up her pushing of Aidan with something she'd never done before. She looked over at her little brother, who watching her curiously from his swing, and ran up to him. Selina started to sit up, afraid that she was going to smack Thomas or otherwise torture him, but instead she half-climbed into his seat to give him a big kiss.

"Whoa," Selina said, amazed. Usually Helena pretended her brother didn't exist or gave him dirty looks when he stole attention away from her.

Then Helena bounced back down, turned around with a big smile and said "Tom Tom!" before rushing back off of the deck, presumably to resume the torture of Aidan.

"Did that just happen?" Bruce asked, as wide-eyed as Selina was.

"That was... really sweet," Selina marveled.

Bruce sat up straighter then, holding her close as he adjusted them, and as they stared off at their daughter while she started trying to chase Aidan around with a handful of sand, Selina gave Bruce another shock.

"Let's do it," she said calmly. "Let's set a date."

Bruce looked up at her, surprise evident in his eyes as he stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said, looking back down at him. "Why not?"

"Well... we just got past a really rough patch, and you're not all the way better yet," Bruce pointed out, gently. "I don't want to rush into it, or..."

"Bruce," Selina said seriously, "we've been engaged for awhile now. This might be the one thing that we haven't rushed. And I said set a date, not let's go get hitched tomorrow."

"You want that?" Bruce asked. "You're not saying this for my sake, or anything like that?"

"No," Selina assured him. "I want this."

Bruce responded by grinning and bringing her down for a kiss, a long one that she melted contentedly into. He was right, and she wasn't what she'd call "better" yet, but she was finding her way back to herself, and she could see no reason to further delay marrying the man who continued to prove, over and over, that he was the best decision she'd ever made.

She grinned down at him as she pulled away, and then without warning, she shouted, "Molly!"

The blonde came over a moment later, Aidan in her arms and Helena trailing behind them, a smile on her face as she tried to pretend that she was thinking about anything else other than the word "Batman". "Yeah?"

"We're setting a date," Selina said. "Wanna help us figure one out?"

"You're... you guys are serious?" Molly asked. "This is really happening?"

Selina nodded. Molly squealed.

"Yay! Finally! Okay, let me go grab my book - I've got a bunch of potential dates circled, and some dress pictures for you to look at, and color samples for the decor - oh my God, you have no idea how happy I am to finally hear this! Okay, I'll be right back..."

Selina shook her head as Molly ran off, mumbling to herself as she went. Not only did the girl have a big anti-post partum depression notebook, but she already had a wedding planner book undoubtedly already filled to the brim with ideas and pictures. Selina couldn't believe that just a matter of weeks ago, she'd fully planned on never speaking to Molly again.

Selina looked down at Bruce again, her peacefully happy expression mirrored in his own, and she could only hope that it would last this time as she lay her head back down on his shoulder and continued to watch the morning pass them by.

**A/N: have I told you guys lately how awesome you all are? Not only does the review count continue to blow my mind, but this last week I discovered how truly loyal and amazing the BatCat fandom is, and I have to say, it's the best fandom I've ever been active in. I just want to hug all of you and make you cookies. :D Anywho, my apologies for this semi-filler chapter, but we've got some good stuff coming up soon :) my thanks to midnightwings96, and all of you who read and review :D**

**PS - Is there anyone here in my lovely audience who would be willing to do a (Bruce Wayne) fanvid for me and a friend (known here as Cansei de ser Sexy, who deserves her idea to come to fruition lol) , since neither of us have the time or slightest clue how to make one? I am not above bribing and would happily write a oneshot of the person's choice in return :) If anyone is interested please PM me for details and further bribery :D **


	31. Chapter 31

Of all the places in the world that Selina Kyle thought she'd never step foot in, a bridal shop was quite near the top of the list. She'd once thought that nothing could have been stranger than waddling into a baby boutique with a belly the size of a watermelon, but walking into a store filled with row upon row of white, frilly wedding gowns was easily the weirdest thing she'd ever done in her life.

It was the highest-end bridal shop on the mainland, home to gowns from exclusive and disgustingly expensive designers, and when Selina walked in, a woman at the front desk immediately looked upon her with disdain. Selina knew why - Molly and Leslie were with her, and so were the three kids they had between them. It hadn't been the plan to bring the kids, but Alfred had caught a seasonal flu and wasn't quite up for babysitting, Christian was out of town, and Bruce was stuck in board meetings all day. Molly had paid a fee to have the shop closed to all but them for a few hours, and Leslie didn't get many days off, so rescheduling hadn't been an option either.

"Afternoon," the woman said in a bored tone.

"Hi," Molly chirped, oblivious at first to the way that the woman was side-eyeing Thomas in Selina's arms. "This is Selina Kyle, she's the bride. I called ahead a few weeks ago to make sure she got a few hours to herself here today."

The woman looked down at something on the desk and scribbled with her pen, muttering, "Yes, that's fine. Normally we don't accommodate bringing the entire preschool along, so this is a bit... irregular."

Selina had woken up today on edge, and she wasn't sure why. She'd chalked it up to anxiety, but irritation came to the forefront as she narrowed her eyes at the woman. Molly noticed this and put her hand on Selina's arm, then stepped forward closer to the desk. "Is this going to be a problem? Because there's four other shops on this island, not to mention like a million in Miami, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind us taking our business there, even with a whole preschool with us."

Molly said this with Aidan in her arms, and the woman gave him a look before fake-smiling and saying, "They can't go back to the dressing rooms. Every gown here is exclusive to this store and if one of those kids got their hands on an inch of fabric -"

"Then I will personally pay for the damages," Molly said, her eyes hardening and tone lowering. "My husband happens to be extremely rich and could buy this store without so much as blinking, and hire a staff just as quickly who aren't completely rude and stuck up."

"Oh dear, sweet Jesus in heaven," a light, male voice said, emerging from somewhere in the back of the store. "Melissa, honey, what did I tell you about coming to work without having one of your special brownies first?"

A dark, smiling man in a designer suit appeared then, walking past the desk and smiling brightly at the scowling women. "I am so sorry, ladies. Don't mind Melissa here - most of us try our best not to. So! Who's the bride?"

Selina half-rolled her eyes, and Molly's demeanor instantly brightened as she gestured to Selina. "She is!"

"All right! Well first of all, congratulations, and again my apologies for the less than warm welcome. Come on and follow me, bring the little ones - oh my _God_, they're cuties! - and we'll sit down and talk about what you're looking for. Okay? By the way, my name is Monty."

Monty reeked of pure fabulousness, and so did the gowns and displays as the women and children followed him to the back, and Selina stayed utterly silent as they filed into a small but elegant little room and took seats while Monty began to ask his usual consultant questions.

Selina, of course, loved dresses, loved fashion, and had always prided herself on her style, but when Monty asked which styles of gowns she was partial to, her mind went utterly blank. Molly ended up doing most of the talking, and Selina glanced at Leslie to her right, giving her a wide-eyed look of I have no idea what I'm doing. Leslie smiled and shifted Helena in her lap, and Selina felt her anxiety start to rise.

It all culminated in a moment nearly fifteen minutes later, when Selina and Molly were shuffled into a fitting room with an array of dresses spanning the various styles available aside from ball gowns, which was the only style Selina knew she didn't want. Molly helped her get the first dress on, a mermaid-style strapless gown with a chiffon-ruffled skirt, and the sample was one size too small for Selina's frame. She walked out of the room towards the full-length mirrors in the main area, barely able to breathe, and as soon as she stepped up to the platform and saw herself in the mirror, wearing an actual wedding dress, panic took hold.

All of the anxiety she'd been feeling all day had built into this, finally exploding in one surreal moment of abject mental horror as Selina paled and then quickly rushed back to the fitting room before anyone had the chance to _ooh_ and _ahh_ over her.

She was clawing at the back zipper of the dress as she panted and gasped, trying to catch her breath as she stumbled into the room. Molly was close behind, concern etched on her face as she hurried to help Selina get the dress off. "Selina? Are you okay? Oh God, you're having a meltdown."

Selina nearly ripped the dress as she got it off, then sucked in a huge breath and braced herself against a wall as Molly watched helplessly.

"I'm fine," Selina finally said, leaning her forehead on her arm against the wall. "Just freaking out. A lot."

"Well... we can come back another day if you want," Molly suggested gently.

Slowly, and with a groan, Selina sunk to the floor, her head in one of her hands as she continued to try to breathe. "No... I can't put this off. The wedding's in three months. Oh God. I'm actually getting married."

Then Selina started mumbling too low for Molly to understand what she was saying, and quickly Molly responded by getting down on the floor with her and taking both of her hands. "Selina. Look at me."

Selina looked up, her face still pale from panic as she looked into Molly's eyes.

"Just breathe. This is totally normal, and it'll pass. Just... actually, just focus on Bruce. Think about him, and how perfect he is for you, how happy he makes you, and how good he is to you. You're not getting 'trapped' or 'tied down', you're not marrying some jerk - you're marrying..." Molly dropped her voice into a conspiratorial whisper and smiled, "... _Batman_."

Selina laughed. Molly smiled and continued, "You're not having the average hum-dum wedding, you're having a Bat-wedding! And your groom isn't just your typical super hot rich guy, he's a Bat-groom. And -"

"Okay, Molly," Selina chuckled. "I get it, Bat-everything."

"And you're having a Bat-honeymoon. Sorry, I had to. I'm done now."

Selina shook her head and ran her hands through her hair, finally able to take a deep breath into her lungs. "God, I thought I was done freaking out. This is stupid."

"No, it's normal," Molly insisted. "But see? It's passing, like I said it would. And we really can come back another day, if that's what you need."

Selina sighed and looked at the other dresses hanging in the room. "No. I'm fine. I can do this."

Molly nodded, then helped Selina get back up to her feet. "Did you ever freak out like this before you got married?" Selina asked.

Molly paused before shaking her head. "No. But I always wanted to get married. I was the cliched little girl who spent her whole childhood dreaming about her wedding day. You, on the other hand, are completely within reason to have at least one big panic attack while you plan your wedding."

Then, from outside the walls of the fitting room, they heard a soft thud followed by girlish giggles and a boyish wail. Selina sighed. "Helena really has it out for Aidan."

Molly shrugged. "And yet he keeps going back for more, so really it's his fault."

Selina then steeled herself and looked at the hanging gowns again. "All right. Let's get this over with."

* * *

What Molly had hoped would be a fun day of playing dress-up turned into two hours of misery. The kids were not amused by the boredom involved, and Helena's only form of entertainment was Aidan's cries as she taunted and tortured him. Eventually Leslie had to separate the two, while holding Thomas, and Selina's stress factor hit the roof. Not only were the little ones miserable and noisy, the dresses weren't living up to their expectations, despite the hefty price tags. Monty was the only thing that kept Selina from screaming and walking out, as he merely smiled at the kids' antics and ended up digging out a bag of candy from somewhere to bribe their silence with. But even his good-natured affability couldn't save the day, as nothing Selina tried on did the trick.

When they finally left, Molly comforted the now-frazzled Selina by saying, "It's okay, really. These things take time. It took me a long time to decide on my dress."

Selina nodded absently as they all piled into a car. The thing was, she _didn't_ have forever to pick a dress. Three months was barely long enough to get a dress ordered, delivered, altered and fitted. They could have set a later date but Selina didn't want to wait forever and spend longer than she absolutely had to spend on wedding planning. After just a couple of weeks of Molly suffocating her with hours-long conversations about the wedding, Selina was already about to pull her hair out and could not even begin to understand how people didn't go insane doing this.

The plan for the rest of the day was a quick lunch and then leaving Leslie and Molly to go fix a problem at the shelter, which Selina wasn't looking forward to, because the kids would be with her all day and that made everything infinitely more difficult. She hadn't seen or spoken to Bruce all day, as he'd gotten up before her and hadn't texted her like he normally would have by now, but she knew he was busy, and she wouldn't bother him. On days like these, she found it best to take it an hour at a time and not obsess over all of the reasons why the day was sucking so badly.

By the time they settled down at a little corner cafe downtown, Molly was stuffing her face with a burger that would have made anyone else gain five pounds and still rattling on about gown styles, Selina was trying to eat and give Thomas a bottle while scolding Helena for throwing apple slices at Aidan, and Leslie was quietly muttering into her phone to somebody at the hospital.

"I think form fitting is definitely the way to go, and the more lace the better. The ones today were just underwhelming," Molly said. "But that one with the high neck that you tried on -"

"The granny one?" Selina asked with wide eyes.

"It wasn't a granny dress, it was high fashion," Molly noted. "The cut didn't work that well for you but oh man, the lace - we need to go for something like that."

Selina shrugged. Bruce _did_ like her in lace.

Thomas fell asleep halfway through his bottle, and Helena had given up on tormenting Aidan for a moment, giving Selina the chance to take a deep breath and look around the cafe. She had scanned half of the room when she noticed a head full of dark red hair seated at a table with a few other women, and when the redhead brushed a side of her hair behind her ear, Selina recognized her instantly. She also felt her claws start to come out.

"... I was thinking teal or turquoise. What do you think? Selina?" Molly asked, then followed her friend's line of sight until she saw the despised Russian doctor sitting across the cafe. She dropped her jaw and said, aghast, "Oh, _hell_ no."

"I'm gonna rip her head off," Selina growled. Seeing the woman who had made Bruce's life exponentially more difficult in the last few months just sitting there, laughing and chatting with friends, made Selina literally begin to shake with rage. The sight of the doctor would have affected her like that anyway, but just seeing how carefree she apparently was while she was actively dragging the father of Selina's children's name through the mud was enough to bring out her - _very _- violent side.

"Just ignore her," Leslie said, apparently done with her call in time to notice Selina staring daggers. "There is literally nothing you can do that won't make the situation worse."

Logically, Selina knew that the older woman was right. But, when Inessa got up and headed to the ladies' room with one of her friends, Selina got up and shoved the snoozing Thomas at Leslie, ignoring both hers and Molly's protests as she went to follow.

Her hand was pushing the restroom door open when Selina felt hands on the back of her shoulders yanking her back and behind a corner.

"The hell are you doing?" Molly asked urgently.

Selina rolled her eyes and smacked the other woman's hands away. "I'm not an idiot, Molly. Leave me alone."

"Selina -"

"Molly," Selina said in a low, serious tone, staring hard at Molly. "Don't."

Selina then slipped inside of the restroom, and Molly stayed outside, chewing her bottom lip and fretting about whether to go in or stay outside. She only stopped stressing when a flash of red hair walked out of the restroom, with all of her limbs still attached, and once the doctor was safely away, Molly walked inside of the restroom herself.

Selina was leaning against the wall near the sinks, her arms crossed and features hard as she stared at the floor. "I'm so sick of this."

"Sick of what?" Molly asked, closing the door behind her.

"Not being able to do a damn thing about that bitch."

"Well," Molly said gently, "what exactly were you hoping would happen by following her?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. Because Leslie's right. There's nothing I can do that won't make things worse."

Molly paused for a moment, thinking. "Well, you could always put a ski mask on and stalk her one night, and jump out of nowhere and beat the crap out of her. But then she'd probably try to say that Bruce hired someone to do it."

Selina shook her head. "You know the first court date's coming up soon. Everyone's telling him to settle but he won't do it. Who knows how long this is going to be dragged out. And you know what Bruce told me the other day? I didn't know this, but he used to disable the security feed in his office when I'd come over. She figured that out somehow, and in her suit she says most of the harassment happened during those times, in his office, and that that's why he disabled it."

"Well... the important thing is that we know the truth. And Bruce has witnesses of his own."

Selina shrugged. "You know how these things go. And he's built so much here, but this crap is already starting to hurt him. He's losing funding and nobody wants to work with him until the case is over."

Molly furrowed her brows. "Really? I'm just so used to L.A. still, where nobody would have really batted an eye over this. At least not in the business world. I don't think they would have, anyway."

"The only way I see that this can really go away is if she admits that she's lying," Selina said. "Even if she doesn't win the case, as long as she still holds on to her story, it's not going to go away."

"Okay, well, why don't we go finish eating lunch, and then later on, we can brainstorm over ways to try to fix all this?" Molly suggested. "Poor Leslie's probably pulling out her hair by now."

Selina gave a half-nod and walked back out into the cafe with Molly, who sighed and remarked absently, "It's too bad we can't, like, spy on her and wait for her to say something damning and then record it."

With these simple, wistful words, the proverbial light bulb over Selina's head suddenly snapped on. At the same moment, Inessa, who was picking up her purse and leaving with her friends, glanced across the cafe and visibly paled as she met Selina's gaze. A few moments ago, Selina would have merely glowered at the woman and given her a look of the utmost loathing. But now, Selina smiled, and gave a slight wave with the tips of her fingers. The doctor's eyes widened before she hurriedly scuttled out of the restaurant.

Molly looked at Selina with great concern as they took their seats at the table. "Um... should I be worried?"

Selina shrugged and pulled out her phone. From her high chair, Helena celebrated Selina's return with a happy "Mommy!". Selina smiled back a response before scrolling through her contacts.

Leslie gave Molly a questioning look, which the younger girl responded to by shrugging her shoulders as Selina's fingers quickly typed a text. _Still at this number?_

Selina quietly worked on finishing her meal as she waited for a reply. She figured it could take hours for her to get one, but one came in only a few moments.

_Surprisingly yes. Miss me?_

_I could use your resources. Where are you these days?_

She got a reply as they began to get the kids ready to leave. _Sydney. It's lovely this time of year, you should come see._

_Maybe next time. Up for hatching a plan?_

She could almost see the grin on his face in his response. _As if you have to ask._

* * *

The light-bulb moment proved to be the sole highlight of the day. Selina got stuck at the shelter until the early evening, where she tried to help Anita out with some problems in the budget and operations while Helena tore up the place. The little girl hadn't had a nap and was making Selina pay the price for it.

By the time they finally got home, Selina found the house empty and realized that she still hadn't heard from Bruce all day. She went through the motions, heating up leftovers for dinner for herself and Helena, going about the usual evening routine at home while her mind continued to spin in hyperdrive.

The anger hadn't waned one bit. Anxiety came back every time the still-extremely-pissed Helena screeched or Selina thought about having to go gown-shopping again, alternatively. What she wanted most was for the kids to go to sleep, let her have a moment of peace and quiet, and then she wanted to fight. A good, knuckle-bruising fight. Days like these were the kind that made her wish she could slip out into the night and paw her way up and down the streets until she found some good old-fashioned trouble, but that sort of thing wasn't quite practical anymore. At least not tonight.

Bruce finally came home a little after 8 that night, a full four hours later than expected, and he walked into a house full of wailing when he did. Helena was extremely wound up and yet also exhausted, which resulted in her crying about every little thing and refusing to give up and go to sleep, and her crying was making Thomas cry. Selina sat blankly in the middle of it all, in the living room, and when Bruce stepped into view and their eyes met, she instantly knew that his day had been just as crappy, if more so, than hers had. He had the same look in his eyes, the same anger that she could see through his feeble attempt to hide it.

Helena flung herself at him, wailing "Daddy" and crying from tired eyes, and Bruce, knowing by the tone of her cry and the redness around her eyes that she was fighting sleep like she sometimes did, quickly scooped her up and walked to her room without a word.

Thomas went to sleep easily once his sister wasn't tearing around and screaming like the world was ending. Selina couldn't help but be impressed by the short amount of time it took for Bruce to get Helena to give up, judging by the five minutes between when he took her and when she stopped hearing her whines from down the hall. She took a deep breath and looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms.

Despite all of the stress swirling under the surface still, she smiled a little bit at the way Thomas was sleeping. He looked so much like his father, especially when he slept, and as she placed a small kiss to his forehead, she thought back on how far she'd come with him. Not long ago, she would have already placed him in his crib and began dreadfully counting down the moments until he'd awaken to resume the misery of feeling nothing. She wasn't sure if the bond was as strong as it should be yet, and some days she'd still rather stay in bed than get up and jump into a day full of kids and stress, but she felt far better than she had a month ago, and like a different person entirely from who she was a month before that.

Slowly and quietly, she took Thomas to his room and placed him down in his bed. He stirred a little and then shifted on his side, and she placed his pacifier in his mouth before slipping away. She'd just closed the door behind her when she looked up and froze at the sight of Bruce, standing in front of Helena's door across from Thomas', staring at her so heatedly and hard that it shivers shot down her spine.

He was pissed, that much was clear, but his anger wasn't directed at her. Selina recalled her earlier desire of wanting to just have a good fight with someone, and by the way that he was staring at her, the desire was mutual.

Luckily, Selina thought, there was an alternative to a fistfight that they could achieve the same ends with. Without a word, she started down the hall, and he followed just a step behind. She walked into their room, dark but for moonlight trickling in through the windows, and took off her shirt before turning to see Bruce doing the same thing, his fingers working through the buttons of his own shirt, his eyes dark and still angry as they adjusted to the dimness and stayed fixed upon her.

Something about the silence was heightening things, and the anticipation of when he'd spring forth and let his anger out. Selina heard rather than saw his shirt hit the floor, and then she blinked just once. He was on her in the same moment, his kiss hard and crushing and needy, and she gave as good as she got, biting down on his lip and pushing him back towards the bed. But he fought back and picked her up too quickly for her to fight, pulling her to him and racing them across the room to their dresser, all while fighting not to break their suffocating kiss.

He set her stop the dark oak piece of furniture, crushing himself against her as he did, lips leaving her mouth for her neck, teeth marking her flesh sharply and setting her nerves further aflame as she clung to him and forgot why she was so angry and on edge in the first place. There was nothing in the world but _him_, _them_, his touch and the release of everything between them that was grating and wearing on them.

Bruce wasn't interested in teasing or prolonging anything, tearing her bra from her shoulders and doing the same to the thin shorts on her hips, and when she tried to do the same for him, he grabbed her wrists and shoved them behind her on top of the dresser, holding them there as his other hand freed himself and then grabbed her by the small of her back to pull her against him. She gasped and he hissed at that first contact, the last traces of the day obliterating as they joined, and when he took a moment, breathing hard against her neck, Selina rocked against him and breathed, "Don't slow down now."

He answered with a growl and a hard thrust, then another and another, and she braced herself on the dresser with one hand while she held on to him by the hair on the back of his head with the other. She matched his every movement, her skin bruising under his fingertips and muscles straining with the position and lips swelling under the force of his own, but this was what she wanted and what he needed. She brought both of her arms around him and yanked his head back by his hair, working a groan from his throat as she set out to leave it as marked and bitten and kissed as her own. He let her have her way for a moment or two, then grabbed her own hair and pulled her back to stare into her eyes.

His pounding was relentless, somehow amplified and harder under the intensity of his eyes, and her release snuck up on her - it overtook her as he drank up the sight of her throwing her head back and letting out a surprised and exhilarated moan, her nails digging into his shoulders like the claws that they were.

He slowed down for her, for a moment, straining and panting against her ear as he listened to her catch her breath. Gently her hand took his chin and guided his lips to hers, and as she kissed him, she started moving with him again, and one more little sound of pleasure from her lips made him snap and finally seek his own end with abandon.

He didn't last much longer, driving her into the wall behind her over and over, holding her as tight as he could without breaking her, and finally rasping out a groan from the depths of himself as he came. Selina was sad to see it all come to an end, even a bit sad when he kissed her shoulder gently and relinquished his hard hold on her in favor of a softer, soothing one. She loved each side of him equally, his tamer half and his insane half, but tonight, she thought she could have used the latter one for a bit longer.

Still without a word, he held her close to him and lifted her off of the dresser, taking them to their bed. He laid them down together, half under the sheets and both of them still panting softly as Selina laid her head on his chest and looked up at him.

"So... do I want to know what brought that on?" she asked quietly, her hand running slowly along the planes of his chest.

He stared up at the ceiling. "A lot happened in the last few days."

"Like what?"

"I found out that until this stupid case is over with, very few people want to be seen doing business with me. I'm trying to raise the funds to add the second building to the hospital and buy your shelter, and that's hard to do when you're being avoided for the sake of 'controversy'. Then..."

"What?" Selina asked.

"You know that little girl I told you about, Jessica."

"Yeah, the one in the ICU," Selina nodded. "What happened?"

"She had to have a couple of surgeries to repair some of her internal damage," Bruce said. "Her prognosis was good but after the last one she just started to deteriorate. Turns out she was septic from one of her wounds. They caught it too late."

"... I'm sorry," Selina said softly. That little girl had been the one to inspire Bruce's latest idea to build on to his hospital and open an innovative new center for those in need, and he'd taken her case close to his heart the day he first saw the little girl laying in one of his hospital's beds.

"Then all day I have to listen to people telling me that I have to settle to get this lawsuit behind me and get on with business," Bruce went on. "And I _cannot_ justify it in my mind. But then what if I should settle, to get it out of the way and get back on track with the new building? What if I owe that to... the people that I'm trying to help?"

Selina sighed, crossing her arms on his chest and resting her chin on them. "I don't know. I'm really surprised that you're being shunned this much. Isn't it par for the course, sexual harassment suits?"

Bruce shrugged. "It's more than just that. I'm the newcomer. Inessa's boss owns half the island and is pulling her strings, I'm sure. He's got people everywhere, even at the newspaper. He's exploiting this as best as he can without appearing like he's doing it directly himself."

For a moment, Selina thought about telling Bruce of her idea of how to bring about an end to the lawsuit. They had, after all, agreed to a strict all-honesty policy not long ago, but this, she thought, was a bit different. That agreement was more so about emotions and things along those lines, not illegal ideas of ways to prove that a crazy Russian woman was lying about sexual harassment. He'd just fuss and fret and demand she not do it, anyway.

In the end, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Hopefully.

"Anyway... what about you?" Bruce asked, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "You weren't exactly... calm, either."

"Oh, the usual," she half-lied. "Kids driving me nuts, Molly driving me nuts, trying on wedding dresses, fixing a bunch of problems at the shelter, kids driving me nuts."

Bruce smiled slightly. "Sure you're not leaving anything out?"

Selina raised a brow. "Why do you ask?"

"I was told that you had a near-run in with Inessa today at lunch," Bruce said. "And that you may have also waved at her in a disturbing way and mentioned something about an idea before texting someone."

Selina narrowed her eyes. "Can Molly really not keep her mouth shut?"

"Wasn't Molly," Bruce replied. "Selina, please don't do anything stupid. I'm handling this."

"No you aren't," Selina said. "You can't. Your hands are tied. Mine aren't."

"Selina -"

"Don't," Selina said quickly. "I know what I'm doing."

"Who's helping you?" Bruce asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Does it matter?" When Bruce merely continued to scowl at her, Selina said, "Look, if you expect me to sit back and watch some bitch try to destroy what you've spent so much time and energy building here... I can't, I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Bruce murmured back. "You're not sorry."

Selina shrugged. "You're right, I'm not."

Bruce smiled then, but it was a strained smile, and slowly Selina lifted herself on top of him fully, her hands moving up his chest as she said, "All of that, and you're still tense? Shame on me... I must not have done my job well enough."

"Don't say ridiculous things like that," Bruce chided her gently, his hand on the back of her neck pulling her down for a kiss. "You'll make me angry again."

"I like it when you're angry," she grinned after he kissed her. "Or did I not make that clear enough earlier?"

He replied with an indecipherable sound and then kissed her again, more deeply and slowly, and vaguely Selina noted that if their time a few moments ago on the dresser had been the "fight", then this was the "make up", sweeter and not mindless and driven purely by instinct and anger. And that was perfectly alright, she decided as she left his lips and dragged her own down his chest, feeling his fingers in her hair and his breaths quicken the lower she went.

* * *

Over the next few days, Selina let Molly drag her to every last bridal shop within the vicinity, and each time, they came up with nothing. There was plenty that looked fabulous on Selina, and some dresses that she liked, but nothing that made her have "that moment" that Molly kept babbling about, where you put on a dress and instantly know that it's "the one".

By the end of the latest day of shopping, which wasn't as bad as the others because it was just Selina and Molly, without the kids, they'd struck out on the final shop, and Molly was suggesting they go try out Miami when her phone rang.

After she hung up, she turned to Selina as they walked to the car and said, "That was Monty, from the first store we tried. He said they just got some new dresses in and there's one that he says he looked at and immediately thought of you for."

"Really?" Selina asked skeptically.

"Yeah. Won't hurt to go look. Who knows, could be the one!" Molly smiled as Selina rolled her eyes and got in the driver's seat.

Half an hour later, Selina was back where she began her gown-shopping at, standing in front of the full-length mirrors once again, but this time without a panic attack at the edge of her mind and crying babies to distract her.

Behind her, on her left, was Molly, whose eyes were huge as she stared at Selina's reflection. To her right was Monty, grinning and clasping his hands together as he said, "I'm always right. Look at that. It's perfect for you. Gosh, am I good or what, people?"

Selina said nothing, her eyes taking in every detail of the dress. White lace, low and tasteful neckline, backless, form fitting, classy, and a train that was just long enough without being a pain to drag around. It really was gorgeous, and perhaps not something she would have thought of as being her first choice, but seeing it on, feeling the lightness of the lace and seeing how wonderfully it truly fit her, she could see how wrong that initial thought was.

As she continued to contemplate the gown, Monty dashed off to grab a veil. A moment later, Selina felt a soft tugging at her scalp, and looked up to see the consultant placing a long cathedral veil atop her head.

"Holy... I... I don't even..." Molly stammered.

Monty smiled and put his hands in the pockets of his suit as he admired his handiwork. "Well? What does the beautiful bride think?"

Selina turned, looking at the back of the dress - which was one of the best parts - and seeing herself like this, in this dress with the veil completing the look, for the first time since she and Bruce became engaged, she could actually see herself as a bride for the first time. She could see it all, picture it all in her head like she never could before, and that fact alone was all the encouragement she needed to make a decision.

"I'm thinking... this just might be it."

**A/N - sorry about the later update, I had a busy week and it took me awhile to get this written. The night I would have finished it I ended up unexpectedly going to see The Great Gatsby and the midnight showing of Star Trek, and suffice it to say I was in a fangirl coma for the next 24 hours. Seriously, amazing movies, if anyone hasn't seen them, go and do it immediately :D Anyway, my thanks to all of you for your continuing amazing feedback and support, and my thanks to midnightwings96 :D I have the next chapter underway already, and it's gonna be good stuff. Possibly one of my favorites ever. :)**


	32. Chapter 32

The next month and a half was a bittersweet time, marked by a lot of work, a day in court, and enough wedding planning to make everyone but Molly want to slam their heads into the wall. The wedding dress had been the easiest part of planning - Selina ended up buying the sample rather than ordering a new one, since she was the only one who had worn the new sample anyway, and time was of the essence. She had it tailored to fit her trimmer figure - she'd been working hard to get rid of the last physical reminders of her last pregnancy - and bought a veil, and had that aspect of things taken care of within the month. The rest, however, was not as simple.

Selina, and certainly Bruce as well, could not focus much on the mundane details of things such as decorations for the church, seating arrangements (for the whole maybe 15 people who would be invited), and everything else that was involved in planning a wedding when there were far more pressing things to fret about. The judge presiding over Inessa's case against Bruce had denied his lawyers' motions to dismiss the suit on the first day in court, and everything else was just as stressful and difficult as ever.

Planning the wedding was making Selina and Molly fight and bicker, because Selina truly did not care about the details, and Molly wanted so badly to make her care that it was a constant cycle of sniping and frustration that left them both in sour moods at the end of every day they spent together. Bruce finally reached his own limit one night, when Molly was in their living room trying to explain to Selina why centerpieces were utterly vital to a wedding. He was sick of hearing them fight and sick of everything, so with Thomas in his arms and Helena hanging on his leg, he trudged into the room and interrupted them with a very loud suggestion.

"Why don't we just move the wedding up and get it over with?"

Both women stared up at him, Molly looking aghast and Selina looking confused.

"I'm serious. We don't even need the church. We can get married outside on the beach. You both have your dresses. Helena has hers too. We can do it next week."

"Next week?!" Molly gasped. "But... no! You can't just do that! What about the people in Gotham that you're inviting, who have work? People can't just take off work and come -"

"Yes they can," Bruce assured her.

"And then there's the reception to think about," Molly went on. "I don't even know if the venue I was going to book is available next week, and -"

"I'm sure there's something we can find on short notice," Bruce said, trying to shake Helena off of his leg as she giggled and hung on. He looked at Selina, who was staring at him like he'd never had such a brilliant idea before in his life, and listened as Molly's panic attack went on.

"But... I haven't even figured out what to do for a bachelorette party! Oh my God, are you guys serious right now? Selina? Is this what you want?"

Selina grinned at Bruce before turning back to her best friend. "Yeah. It is. I didn't even really want a church wedding anyway."

Molly tossed the papers in her hands to the floor in exasperation and lowered her head into her hands. "Dammit. Then I have no choice but to make this work." Molly then snapped her head up suddenly then, her eyes wide as she said, "I have so many calls to make. I'll see you guys later. Oh my God. I really hate you both."

Bruce chuckled as the blonde then sprinted out of the house, and from the couch, Selina leaned her head in her hand as she looked Bruce over and said, "If the kids were asleep I would jump you so hard right now."

Bruce set their youngest child in his swing in front of the couch and grinned as he replied, "I can tell when you're miserable, and I could also tell that you were only going along with half of it because you didn't have the heart to tell Molly to calm down."

Bruce pried Helena off of his leg then and tossed her up into the air, which made her laugh so hard she lost her breath, and Selina replied, "You know how she is! She gives you that big teary blue-eyed puppy dog look and suddenly you feel like a horrible person for not agreeing with her."

"That's why the two of you make a dangerous pair," Bruce said, sitting down beside her. "You're both manipulative and fully aware of how much power you have over the people around you."

The words "dangerous pair" reminded Selina of what she'd previously planned for next week. Eric was arriving from Sydney in five days, and she suddenly realized that she had the opportunity to have the bachelorette party to end all others.

Bruce leaned over to kiss her, and Selina shot up just before his lips could brush hers, leaving him hanging in mid-air. "I need to go make a few calls."

* * *

"_Next week?_" Blake repeated on the other line. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," Selina replied, pacing outside on the back deck. "So you need to be here at least two days before. I want you to make Bruce have some kind of bachelor party - you know him, he won't want to, but I'm giving you permission to drug him if that's what it takes for him to have a good time."

"Yeah, because _that_ would end well for me," Blake scoffed. "It would end up like The Hangover except with Batman going bat-shit crazy the next day. No pun intended."

"You'll be fine," Selina said dismissively. "But I need you to do me a favor, and I need you to not tell Bruce about it. I need you to bring my old suit. Not the one Fox made me when we were there last, but the other one. Is it still in the cave?"

"... Yeah, it's with Bruce's old one. Why do you want it?"

She rolled her eyes at first, at Blake's never-ending penchant for asking things that were none of his business, but then another genius idea struck her. Her eyes widened and she stopped pacing, suddenly tingling with the force of her sheer brilliance. "Bring Bruce's too."

There was a pause on the other line, then a groan. "I don't even want to know."

Selina grinned. Not only had she just ensured that Blake would have no idea of her original intent for getting her old suit back, but she'd also just ensured that she and Bruce would have the best honeymoon in the history of possibly everything.

"Alright. And we're getting your suit for you this week - your measurements haven't changed since last month, have they?"

"No," he replied in a bored tone.

"Okay . So be here by... Thursday night. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Selina then hung up, and quickly dialed another number.

"Caught me at a bit of a bad time, Selina dear," Eric said upon answering.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, just a bit," he replied. "I believe I've officially worn out my welcome down under."

"Good, then nothing's going to delay you from getting here on time," Selina said. "Wedding's been moved up to next week, so I guess that thing you're helping me with is going to be part of my bachelorette party."

"You're getting married next week? Are you serious? That's perfect," he grinned, and Selina could hear him gasping in between breaths.

She furrowed her brows. "Are you running?"

"When am I not running, darling?"

He had a point. "Well... I was just calling to make sure we were still on schedule. And to make sure you knew to bring a suit, since you're officially invited to my wedding."

"I'm excited," Eric replied, "truly. I'm very happy for you. But I don't believe we ever quite narrowed down how you'll be paying me for my services."

She rolled her eyes. "Bye, Eric."

"See you soon."

She hung up, her mind racing as she continued to plot the next week in her head.

* * *

As expected, Molly was quite able to pull the last details together within the week - a venue for the reception, an available DJ, flowers, a licensed minister to marry them, and a wedding designer to set up an archway and other decorations on the beach for the ceremony. She barely slept that week, and Selina did her best to help her friend not pull out her hair from the sheer stress of it. It was Blake's job to round up Lucius and Gordon, the latter of which tried to find an excuse not to go - not because he didn't want to, but because it was his nature to insist that he couldn't take the time away from work - but Blake was persistent and effective.

Blake went ahead of them, and Lucius planned to follow a few hours ahead of him as he finished up some work in his office at Wayne Enterprises. He planned to leave late and sleep on the jet, arriving early Friday morning. That gave him time to get settled in and help with anything needed before the wedding Saturday.

"Going somewhere?" a soft voice asked, and Lucius took off his glasses as he looked from his desk. It was his niece, of course, working as late as he was. She normally did. "Heard some people saying you'd be gone for a few days, but there's nothing on the books."

"There wouldn't be," he explained as Raven stepped further into the office. "I've got a wedding in the Bahamas to attend."

She nodded, understanding coloring her face. "That's good. Good for them."

"You know that you're invited too," Lucius said. She sat down and he continued, "You're more than welcome to come with me."

Raven shook her head. "I barely know them, and Blake being there would just make it weird."

Lucius paused. "So I suppose that you plan on continuing to work 12 hour days unnecessarily while he continues to let his double life consume him, and in the meantime, you'll both do your damnedest to avoid each other. Sound about right?"

"You know, Uncle Lucius," she said, "you're the one who didn't want me with him in the first place."

"Yes," Lucius nodded, "in the first place. But you crossed that bridge a long time ago."

She shrugged. "I don't see how any of it matters."

"Maybe it matters," he said, "because I'm about to watch two people get married who went through more in a matter of weeks than you and Blake did in two years. I could tell you the story and I don't think you'd believe me that two people could meet the way they did, one of them betray the other the way that they did, and beat the odds by ending up an actual stable relationship with each other."

"That's them," Raven said. "I don't think I'm dysfunctional enough to handle this kind of thing, this lifestyle that Blake lives. I can't bring kids into a situation like this."

"You don't believe that he'll be doing this forever, do you?" Lucius asked quietly. "He won't. He can't."

"So, what, I'm supposed to wait for that?" Raven asked. "Like I'm some mistress waiting for a guy to leave his wife?"

Lucius sighed. "Raven, what you're doing now isn't a lot different, and at least that way you'd be happier. I don't like seeing you like this."

"I don't like _being_ like this," she replied. "But I don't know what else to do."

"Well," he said gently, "you can start by taking a day or two off and coming with me to the Caribbean. You don't even have to come to the wedding if you don't want. Just spend a few days away from here, away from Gotham. Might do you some good."

She couldn't argue with that, even if the thought of being anywhere near Blake at something like a wedding made her want to scream. "... Okay."

Lucius nodded with a small smile. "Good."

* * *

It was the day before the wedding, and all of the island was abuzz with the last-minute preparations and double-checking of what was already in place. Blake had arrived and was immediately enlisted by Molly to help string some lights together that she planned to set up at the reception, and as her house filled with others that she also put to work, next door, Bruce and Selina's house found a rare moment of quiet just after dinner.

The kids were napping, Molly's half-panicked commands were being barked at other people a house away, and Selina was in their bathroom, straightening her hair and getting ready for her "party" tonight. Bruce still had no idea that he was having one too, and he didn't even know what Selina's was going to involve. In fact, nobody really did aside from her.

She glanced up in the mirror when she heard movement to her left, and saw Bruce watching her as he leaned casually against the doorway. She ran the iron through a piece of her hair and asked, "Looking for something?"

He shrugged. "Just had an idea."

"What's that?"

"Instead of going out to do whatever it is you're doing tonight," he said, moving towards her and brushing against her from behind, "you could stay here... have your 'last night of freedom' with me. You wouldn't regret it."

He kissed her neck, and she set the hair straightener down with a soft chuckle. "I don't doubt it." She then turned in his arms and said, "But that would be defeating the purpose of a 'last night of freedom', wouldn't it?"

"Should I be worried about what you plan on doing tonight?" Bruce asked, halfway actually worried.

"I don't think so... if it helps ease your mind at all, I'm not doing the whole cliched 'Magic Mike' thing. Wouldn't interest me much, anyway. Not when I've got this waiting at home."

"Comforting," he grinned. Then he leaned down and kissed her, and afterwards said, "This time tomorrow... we'll be married."

She smirked and turned back around, picking her straightener up again as she remarked, "Surreal, huh? Never thought I'd see the day."

His fingers were on her waist, playing with the hem of her tank top and touching her skin softly underneath it as he said, "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

"Actually... I do have an idea," she replied, continuing to work on her hair while glancing at his reflection beside hers. Then just as he leaned in to kiss her neck again, there was a knock outside at their bedroom door. Bruce straightened and glanced towards the noise as Selina happily called, "Come on in!"

Bruce gave her a mildly confused look, then glanced out into their bedroom and became even more confused as Blake and Christian came strolling in. "Molly finally let us off wedding duty," Blake said, looking at Selina instead of Bruce. Christian had an amused look on his face.

"Good. Then carry on," Selina nodded, going back to her hair.

"Carry on with what?" Bruce asked. He then looked at the two men, one looking nervous and the other looking quite jovial, and it wasn't hard to deduce what was going on. Bruce's eyes narrowed. "I am not -"

"Yes you are," Selina interrupted, not bothering to look away from the mirror. "I gave Blake permission to drug you and force you to have a good time tonight, so you may as well save yourself the headache and go along with it."

"But -"

"Oh, come on, mate," Christian chided, "you can't have a wedding without a proper stag party. And what do you plan to do while Selina and Molly are out getting into trouble tonight - staying home and changing diapers?"

"But I don't even -"

"No buts about it," Christian argued. "You're too young to act as old as you do, so come on before Blake actually does drug you."

As Christian clapped a hand on Bruce's shoulder and forced him towards the door, Blake stepped into the bathroom doorway and whispered, "There's two bags in my room. The smaller one's got the... things you asked for."

"Excellent," Selina grinned. "Thanks. What's your plan for Bruce tonight?"

"I'm going to get him wasted," Blake replied.

Selina's grin widened. "Two things - first, take pictures, and second, no tequila. Bruce has to be able to at least stand up tomorrow, and remember, he hasn't drank in God knows how many years, so try to make sure his system doesn't get too much of a shock."

Blake nodded. "I'll do my best."

They could still hear the sounds of Bruce arguing as Christian led him down the hall, and Selina gestured with her head for Blake to get going. "Pictures. Don't forget pictures."

Blake sighed as he walked off, muttering something about being a dead man, and as Selina finished up her hair, her thoughts drifted to how badly it would suck if she couldn't fit into her old suit anymore.

After the men had gone - Bruce protesting the whole way - Selina headed to Blake's guest room, retrieved the luggage in question, and pulled her catsuit out of a hidden compartment inside of it. She tried it on to make sure that it fit comfortably enough to be practical, and to her relief, it did - it was a little bit more snug in the hips than it had been before, but she could live with it. It was also a bit harder to get the zipper up and over her larger chest, but the material was more accommodating than others would have been, and all in all, Selina was pretty damn proud of herself for just having had two kids and managing to get herself back into her old suit and still look amazing in it.

She then slipped it off and got her regular clothes back on, then dug around some more in the bag to find her old mask and safe-cracking goggles, as well as her utility belt. _Good old Blake_, she thought with a grin as she placed them and the suit into a large tote bag. She then grabbed a few more items out of the closet in her own bedroom, including the leather boots with the serrated heels that she still loved, and then kissed her babies goodbye before heading next door to pick up Molly. Alfred gave her a look as she left, knowing she was up to no good but remaining silent nonetheless.

Molly answered her front door after two knocks. "I have to admit," Molly grinned, "I don't mind the dress code tonight. I look pretty hot."

Selina had instructed the girl to dress in all black, and Molly didn't deviate from that, donning a regular but form-fitting long sleeved black top with black skinny jeans and knee-high leather boots. Selina smiled in approval. "Nice. Now let's go, we've got a pit stop on the way."

"Pit stop on the way to where?" Molly asked, grabbing her purse and closing the door behind her. "You've still never told me exactly what we're doing, which is kind of messed up, by the way, because I'm the matron of honor and I'm supposed to be the one planning these things."

"Well," Selina said, "we're not having your average bachelorette party. In fact, some people wouldn't consider it a party at all, but I think you'll like it."

"Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous."

Selina smirked. "Don't be. It's only going to be a little illegal."

* * *

A little over half an hour later, Molly was behind Selina as they crept down an alley, her blue eyes wide as she whispered, "What the hell, Selina? A dark alley? Really? What is this, are we playing vigilantes for the night and trying to find some rapists to beat up? I left my purse in my car, I don't even have my taser on me!"

"Molly, breathe," Selina rolled her eyes. "It's just an alley. I've spent a good chunk of my life in these."

"So have I!" Molly squeaked. "Where else do you think I went to find drugs in LA?"

"This alley's drug free, sweetie," Selina replied.

"Then what are we looking for?"

"What else but me?"

Molly let out a girlish, startled scream when Eric stepped out of the darkness, seemingly out of nowhere, and Selina clapped her hand down over the younger woman's mouth as she glared at Eric. "I told you not to scare her like that, Eric."

He shrugged and crossed his arms as he leaned against a wall, grinning as Molly pushed Selina's hand away and tried to catch her breath. "I just about crapped my pants!"

Selina rolled her eyes and raised a brow at Eric. "Got something for me?"

"Always," Eric smirked, holding out what appeared to be a black gift box for a necklace. Like Selina and Molly both, he was in all black, matching the hue of his long, impeccably imperfect hair. As Selina took the box, he glanced at Molly, who was staring at him, and he gave her a wink. Molly narrowed her eyes unconvincingly before looking away.

Selina opened the box, glanced inside, and quickly snapped it shut. Then she looked up at Eric once more. "And the schematics?"

He pulled out a small black device with a screen smaller than an iPhone and handed it to her. "Pre-programmed on this. The rest of your equipment is in my hotel room."

"Good, I can pick it up later," Selina said, pocketing the device.

"So, how are you? Nervous? How are the feet? A bit chilly, by chance?" Eric grinned.

"Extremely warm, actually," Selina replied. "Sorry to disappoint."

"It's no disappointment. I'm happy for you," he said. "But is this really how you want to spend your last night as a single woman? I can think of several far more interesting ways to spend the next few hours."

"I'm sure you can," Selina said, amused. "But -"

Next to her, Molly squealed and then started kicking her feet. Eric and Selina both jerked their gazes to her, and were equally amused to see a rat scamper off down the alley a few seconds later. Molly looked up at both of them and seethed, "This sucks! Why are we in an alley when he just said he's got a hotel room?!"

"Selina didn't think it wise to risk being seen entering another man's hotel room the night before her wedding," Eric supplied.

"No, risking being seen in a dark alley with a guy is much wiser," Molly grumbled, looking around at the ground for more rodents. "Can we go now?"

"Yes," Selina said. "Thanks, Eric, as always."

"Oh, now hold on there for just one moment - a half-hearted 'thanks, bye'? That's all I get?"

Selina rolled her eyes at his perpetual grin. "Were you expecting something else?"

"Expecting... no. But," he stepped closer, "since I've offered my services free of charge and helped to make your little 'party' happen, I don't think it excessive of me to perhaps ask for one small thing in return."

"And what would that be?"

Molly watched with a suddenly intrigued and half-scandalized expression as Eric answered, "One kiss. Just one more, before you go to the dark side and enter the slavery of matrimony."

Molly just about had a fit when Selina responded by leaning forward, and she thought she was really going to kiss him for a moment, but then Selina bypassed Eric's lips and whispered something into his ear instead. Eric's eyes flickered to Molly, and Molly quickly looked away nervously as Selina pulled away from her old friend.

Eric seemed to ponder what he'd just heard, then tilted his head a bit as he said, "Fair enough, I suppose."

"We'll be on our way, then," Selina said, gesturing to Molly for her to follow her as she walked past Eric towards the end of the alley. Molly kept her eyes to the ground, watching out for more potential rats, and was thus caught by the utmost surprise when she felt hands on her shoulders brace her and push her backwards towards the wall, and even more shocked when she felt lips press against hers.

By the time she realized what was happening and how awesome it was, Eric pulled away and released her. He smiled and drawled, "Have a lovely night."

Selina shook her head with a bemused smile and said to the still-shellshocked Molly, "Come on, we gotta go."

Molly nodded and finally tore her dazed eyes off of Eric as he continued to grin and watch them disappear into the night. He chuckled to himself and then headed out to find some trouble of his own to get into.

Meanwhile, as Molly followed Selina back to the car, the blonde whispered, "Holy crap. Holy _crap_. That just happened."

"You're welcome," Selina smiled. "Figured he was a decent compromise, since I'll probably never be okay with letting you have that kiss with Bruce you keep begging me for."

"I... yeah."

* * *

Meanwhile, across town, Bruce was sitting at a beachfront bar, Blake and Christian on either side of him, and he was digging deeper into his memory than he had in a very long time. He was staring off into space, brows tight as he counted, and Christian stared at him incredulously and asked, "That bloody long?!"

"... Yup. Not since I was 21," Bruce said, confirming it to himself with a nod.

"You haven't been drunk since you were _21_?" Blake asked, wide eyed. "Not even when you were - you know, a couple years ago?"

As far as Bruce knew, Molly had tried to tell Christian about his history as Batman, and Christian had laughed her off. Bruce himself hadn't been around Christian at all lately to confirm Molly's ravings, so it was a bit confusing, but so was the night in general. Bruce knew that Selina wasn't having an actual "party", and he knew it involved Eric and doing something to get back at Inessa. He would have much rather been out following Selina and learning what exactly she was up to than sit here at a bar, whether it was with two people he did genuinely like or not.

"Nope. Not even then."

"So you haven't been drunk in a little over 20 years," Christian said. "Now the question is, what should we get you drunk on?"

"Selina said no tequila," Blake said, leaning forward to look at both men to his right. "And I agree, he'd be dead tomorrow if he drank much of that."

"Well, is there anything you _do_ like to drink?" Christian asked.

Bruce shrugged. "I... honestly, I used to drink ginger ale disguised as champagne."

Christian sighed. "All right. We'll start you off small, then. Rum and coke for you, real drinks for us, and then once you get a decent buzz, we'll upgrade you to something better."

Bruce sighed. "This is stupid. My wedding's tomorrow at one. I don't want to be fighting a hangover the whole time."

"That's why you drink eight ounces of water with every drink you have," Blake said. "Prevents hangovers. Well, prevents the worst parts of them, anyway."

Bruce eyed Blake skeptically, but then Christian tapped loudly on the bar and got the bartender's attention. Apparently this was happening, whether Bruce liked it or not.

When the drinks landed in front of them, Bruce looking at his vaguely like it was poison, Christian held up his glass of whiskey and said, "Right then - let's get hammered."

* * *

"I should feel guilty, don't you think?"

"No," Selina replied, sitting in the driver's seat of the car and looking over the building schematics of Douglas Whitestone's hospital.

"But I'm married, and that just happened, and -"

"He kissed you, it lasted about three seconds, and you yourself said that Christian doesn't care as long as it's under thirty seconds and a special occasion," Selina pointed out, still sounding bored. "Blame me if you have to. I'm the one that told Eric to do it."

Molly bit her lip and said, "You're right, I guess. But should I feel bad because I liked it?"

Selina sighed in exasperation and tossed something small and black to Molly. "No, you'd be a lunatic if you hadn't liked it. This is Eric we're talking about. Now put that on."

Molly nodded, grabbing the item and absently fiddling with it. "Okay. You're right. Hey, I think this night's already off to an epic start. I mean, first that, and now... wait, is this a ski mask?!"

Selina nodded without looking up from the device. "Yup."

"Why do I need to wear a ski mask?" Molly asked with wide eyes.

"Because we are going to break into Inessa's office, and Whitestone's office, and I am going to tap their phones. I'm also going to look through all of their crap. Their security cameras are going to have a 'malfunction' tonight, but just in case, you'll want to wear that so that your face doesn't end up on a wanted poster."

Molly stared at her friend blankly. "Oh... my... God. You're not joking."

Selina shook her head and then finally turned her gaze to Molly. "Molly, I know what I'm doing. You don't have to come with me but I thought you'd get a kick out of getting a taste of what my life used to be like. It'll be fun. Trust me."

"But... so, what's your plan, exactly?"

"Get one or both of them recorded incriminating themselves, admitting the lawsuit's a lie. It won't be admissible in court because it'll be illegally obtained, but... I'll blackmail the hell out of her until she admits publicly that she's been lying and drops the suit."

"That's pretty badass but... don't you think you might kind of start a war with Whitestone?"

"They won't know who's doing the blackmailing," Selina said. "And Whitestone already started the war when he hired Inessa. You know he's pulling all the strings here. All I need is proof."

Molly looked down at the ski mask in her hands, and Selina added, "You can go home if you really want to. Or you can come with me and break some laws on my last night as a free woman."

It only took another moment or two before Molly looked up at Selina and grinned. "Hell yeah. Let's do this."

* * *

His throat on fire, Bruce set down his second shot of whiskey and grimaced as he quickly grabbed his glass of water to wash the taste down. Halfway through his first drink he decided he'd rather do shots than suffer with an entire glass of something, so he switched to what Blake and Christian were drinking. Before he could finish the water, another round of shots landed in front of them, and this time, Blake instructed the bartender to leave the bottle.

"Feeling anything yet?" Blake asked, pouring the whiskey along the line of glasses.

"Not really," Bruce replied, "unless you count the hole burning in my throat."

"It's all right, we'll get you there eventually," Christian said. "So... how excited are you to tie the knot at last tomorrow?"

All three men downed another shot, and Bruce grimaced as he choked out, "Very."

"Didn't think I'd ever see the day," Blake admitted. "You must be doing something right."

"Of course he's doing something right - I swear to God, sometimes I'll glance out my bedroom window at night and I could swear that I see the house shaking. Just a little bit, but definitely shaking."

Bruce eyed Christian and laughed, and then Blake leaned forward and said, "I don't even want to hear it. I have seen and heard so much, I don't even know where to start. Actually no, yes I do. So, Chris, I've got this... motorcycle that Bruce let me have a couple years ago, and -"

Bruce halfway choked on the water he was drinking, then grabbed the bottle of whiskey himself and poured himself another shot.

* * *

Selina and Molly entered the hospital through a back door leading into the cafeteria, which was closed for the night. From there they located a dumb waiter - it was a very old hospital, and these old-fashioned lifts never went unappreciated by Selina - and headed first to the main security office.

Causing the "malfunction" with half of the hospital's cameras was the easiest part of the operation. Changed into her suit and mask, Selina took out the person manning the security office with a tiny, needle-thin tranquilizer to his neck, and from there, she tapped a few buttons on the main computer and made the selected cameras go dark as if for the purpose of required maintenance.

After that, she returned to the dumb waiter, where Molly was waiting and looking oddly adorable in her ski mask.

"Remember," Molly said as they ascended to the sixth floor, where the offices were located, "I've got my taser if someone tries to catch us."

Selina laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

Luckily, the dumb waiter dropped them off at the end of the sixth floor where the cluster of offices were located. Nobody was hanging around that side of the wing this time of night, and the hallway was darkened, which was perfect. Selina climbed off of the lift and Molly followed, and together they located Dr. Aleksandrov's office.

It was about mid-way down the hall, and as soon as Selina read the name on the mounted placard on the door, she plucked a thin little pick from her belt and went to work on the lock.

"What else do you have in there?" Molly whispered, watching Selina's movements in fascination.

"This and that. Eric was nice enough to lend me a few tranqs, just in case. Already came in handy."

Then the lock gave way, and quietly Selina pushed open the door. Molly followed behind, and Selina quietly instructed as she tossed the blonde a tiny flashlight, "Start going through her desk while I tap her phone."

Molly nodded and clicked the flashlight on, excitedly mumbling, "This is awesome! So illegal, but totally freakin' awesome!"

* * *

Bruce slammed his empty glass down and started laughing so hard that his eyes watered and he almost sputtered everywhere. Everything seemed utterly hilarious right now, and his entire face was numb and tingly, not to mention his fingers and toes had never been so warm in his life - one minute he'd felt nothing, and the next, his head was spinning.

But the bottle of whiskey was now empty, between the three men, and they'd moved on to a bottle of something else. It was clear, so Bruce assumed it was vodka, but he didn't care, because even that was going down smoothly right now.

"And then," Christian laughed, "and then I ask, 'Why the bloody hell do you want to have sex in a cave?!' I mean, what in the world could possibly possess a woman to ask her husband to go shag in a _cave_? And then she, she says," he raised his voice by a few octaves, "'Selina told me that Bruce banged her in a cave, and on a motorcycle to boot!' And I'm like, but still - _why_?!"

"Yeah, Bruce, why _would_ you do that?" Blake asked, laughing just as much as the other two men were. They all had glazed looks in their eyes, and they were being too loud, and they didn't care.

"It wasn't my idea," Bruce replied, glancing at Blake. "Don't you remember Selina being the one to kick you out that night?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Christian said, holding his hands up for emphasis, "wait - why were the three of you hanging out in a cave? Were you - what's the word - were you spelunking? But why would you take a motorcycle with you?"

"He said spelunking," Bruce laughed, downing another shot. Drinking felt amazing - why didn't he do this more often?

"Explain!" Christian laughed. "I am so utterly confused!"

Bruce slapped his hand on Christian's shoulder and then gestured for him to come closer. When he did, Bruce whispered, "We were all hanging out in a cave because I had a Batcave. It had this huge computer and a - anyway, that's not important. I had a Batcave. Because it's true. What Molly told you's true." He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and said, "_I'm Batman_." He then immediately started laughing so hard that his stomach ached, and Christian stared at him in amusement before joining in on the drunken laughter.

"I don't think you're drunk enough, mate, you need a bit more," Christian said, pouring Bruce another shot himself. "I want to know how much it'll take for you to say you're Superman."

"But it's true! Look at me," Bruce said, grabbing Christian's face and making him look into his wide, glassy eyes. "Look at me. I. Am. Batman."

Blake glanced over and spat out half of a mouthful of water as he choked on a laugh. Christian met Bruce's very eager gaze and then replied, "And I. Am. Iron Man." Bruce rolled his eyes and dropped his hands, and Christian said, "What? I thought we were trading delusional fantasies about superheroes we'd like to be."

"It's not - I'm not delusional!" Bruce protested. "I'm the fu-"

"Bruce," Blake gently nudged, "keep your voice down."

Bruce sighed and lowered his tone. "I'm not kidding."

"But Batman's dead, so obviously you are kidding," Christian pointed out. "He got blown up in a bloody nuclear bomb. And replaced by that other bloke, whatever his name is... Nightcrawler, Birdwing..."

"Nightwing," Blake supplied, a little too eagerly. He cleared his throat and then stared down at his drink.

"I had an autopilot," Bruce half-whispered, blinking slowly. "You can ask Selina or Alfred, they'll tell you."

Christian smiled in amusement and looked to Blake. "John, darling - is he taking the piss right now or is he actually trying to be serious?"

"Neither, he's wasted and needs to shut up," Blake replied.

Bruce scoffed. "I'm not drunk, I feel great."

"That means you're drunk," Blake pointed out.

"I like you when you're drunk," Christian said to Bruce, poking him with his elbow. "You're always so serious all the time. It's good to hear you slur your words and talk like an idiot a bit."

"I'm not talking like a -"

"Well, well - I've found the stag party."

All three men paused and glanced behind them toward the voice they'd just heard, but Bruce was the only one who growled at the familiar sound. "The hell are _you_ doing here?"

Eric smiled with his hands in his pockets and stepped up to the bar, motioning to the bartender as he replied, "Finished up some earlier business and thought a drink sounded nice. I don't believe I've been introduced to your friends."

Bruce glared at Eric as he said, "Blake, Christian, meet Eric. Selina's _old friend_." The words were laced with enough poison for the men to understand the meaning.

Eric smiled amiably and then squinted at Christian as he asked, "Christian? I've heard your name before. You're... Molly's husband, right?"

"Indeed I am," Christian replied, bringing a glass of water to his lips.

"Good kisser, that wife of yours."

Christian slowly raised his eyes to the other man and set his glass down upon the bar. "Excuse me?"

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Selina said, now in Whitestone's office and digging through a locked filing cabinet behind his deal.

"What?" Molly asked, crouching down to look at the piece of paper in Selina's hand. She'd ditched the ski mask in between offices, unable to withstand the heat of the stupid thing.

"Bills from Inessa's lawyer. Knew he was footing the bill." Selina then dropped the paper and looked over at another cabinet, this one locked with a code like a safe, and she flipped her goggles down over her mask as she stood and strode to it.

Molly took a picture of the discarded bill with her phone - she'd been taking photos of anything that seemed interesting, per Selina's request - then put it back in the cabinet before taking a closer look around the office.

Molly was looking at framed photos of the Whitestone family, scattered along the desk, when a sound from outside made both women's eyes snap up towards the door.

Selina hadn't cracked the code yet, but the surveillance devices were all in place, and she'd accomplished what she set out to. "Molly, put the mask back on."

Molly quickly pulled the black mask on and ducked down behind the desk. Selina saw a man walk into sight outside of the glass doors, then walk back where he came from, and Selina sighed and said, "Time to go."

"Go where?" Molly whispered nervously as Selina plucked something out of her belt.

"Out," Selina said, moving to the window behind the desk. If it had just been her, she would have stayed until she'd cracked open the cabinet, but with Molly accompanying her, she was more cautious than she'd ever been on a job. She opened the window and fastened something to it, then glanced back at Molly and asked, "How much do you weigh?"

"Like 120, why?"

"We'll have to go one at a time. You go first."

Molly's eyes widened when she saw what appeared to be a very then cable in Selina's hand. "Are you kidding? Six feet down on that thing?"

Voices outside were getting closer. "Molly, if you don't want to spend the night in jail, go."

Molly's face was full of panic under her mask, but she got up and hurried to the window anyway, then panicked some more when Selina hooked an end of the wire to Molly's belt. "Oh my God, Selina."

"Calm down. It'll hold fine, I promise. Now jump."

"I can't."

"You have to. Go."

"I can't, Selina!"

"Molly -"

"No seriously, Selina, I can't!"

Gritting her teeth, Selina muttered, "You'll thank me later," and tossed Molly out the window. By some miracle, Molly didn't scream at the top of her lungs the whole way down.

Once she landed outside down near some bushes, Selina tugged on the cable and Molly unhooked it. Selina then retracted it and removed it from the window, slid outside gracefully and carefully on to a ledge, and closed the window. It took her a moment or two to find something to secure the cable to, but once she did, she made haste in joining Molly on the ground and retracting the cable once more.

"That was fun," Selina grinned at Molly, who was still shaking from her ordeal. "Let's go."

"I'm gonna kill you, Selina."

"I know."

* * *

"Really," Eric grinned, casually putting a hand on Christian's shoulder, "nothing to worry about. Selina's idea, actually. She wouldn't spare me a final kiss before her wedding" - Bruce's glare intensified - "so she suggested I grab one from Molly instead. It was very fast, nothing to worry about, like I said."

"Does sound like Selina," Blake shrugged.

Christian looked up at Eric, bewildered. "I don't even know you! Is this a joke?"

Eric shrugged. "Selina said something about not letting Molly have a kiss with Bruce here, and that was where I came in as something of a compromise."

"But that's Bruce, I bloody know Bruce! Our kids play together, he lives next door, so that's quite one thing! What are you, an actor?"

"Actor," Eric grinned. "No, I'm not an actor. Handsome enough to be, though, don't you think?"

Suddenly Bruce felt as if he was about to throw up, and he couldn't tell if it was because he was ridiculously drunk or because of Eric's very presence.

"All right there, Bruce?" Eric asked with a scotch in hand, taking in Bruce's dazed and slightly green appearance. "Sure you're going to be up to tying the knot tomorrow? Not looking too hot there."

"Go fuck yourself," Bruce replied, and Blake stared at his unexpected use of vulgarity and then choked out a laugh.

"You might be just a slight bit more grateful," Eric replied. "After all, I'm helping Selina with a project that's for your benefit."

Bruce scoffed and slurred, "Oh, my benefit, sure - you've got some nerve, you know that?"

Eric merely smiled and sipped his drink. "And here I thought we'd achieved a sort of truce my last visit."

Bruce downed another shot and then threw his hands up as he went on, "Every time I turn around, there you are. Every special occasion, every time things start to suck, even now, the night before my damn wedding, here you are. Here you are!"

"Yes, here I am," Eric replied gleefully.

"I'm getting really sick of your face, man. Really sick of watching you waltz in and out like you're some fucking piece of shit douchebag that just swoops in whenever he feels like it - no, John, get off me - and you know what? I'm sick of it."

Blake backed off his efforts to calm Bruce down, and Eric shrugged and replied calmly, "I'm only here because Selina asked me here. So it appears that she's not as sick of me as you are."

"Oh, that's fucking it," Bruce said, slamming his palms down on the bar and trying to get to his feet. "I'm gonna kick your fucking ass -"

Christian reached out and muttered, "Bruce, mate, be quiet and sit down -"

"No, don't shut me up!" Bruce yelled, shoving off his seat and stumbling as soon as his feet hit the ground. The room was spinning and he could barely walk, but he managed to drag himself towards Eric and glared at him the whole way there.

"Are you going to hit me?" Eric asked, his tone bored.

"Yeah, I'm gonna fucking hit you, you fucking -"

Suddenly Blake was at Bruce's side, holding him back and saying, "Bruce, they're about to throw us out of here -"

"I don't give a fuck!" Bruce exclaimed before shaking off the younger man and swinging at Eric. He missed, of course, and threw himself so off balance that he then stumbled and fell. Eric, shaking his head, caught him and helped him up.

"You know," Eric said as Bruce let out a groan, "I think this may be the start of a wonderful friendship. Don't you think?"

"Take it outside!" the bartender bellowed, and as Bruce suddenly realized for sure that he was going to hurl, Eric helped him out the door while Blake and Christian followed, both of them drunk but not nearly as drunk as the groom.

They only made it to the curb before Bruce blessed the sidewalk with the contents of his stomach, narrowly missing Eric's shoes. Eric sighed and thought that Selina had better damn well appreciate him for what he was about to do.

* * *

Selina had changed out of her suit and was walking with Molly back towards the car she'd stashed about half a mile away from the hospital when her blonde friend finally appeared to be calming down a bit.

"Okay... I think my heart isn't going to explode anymore," Molly said, matching Selina's brisk pace as they walked the main street. "In an hour or so, I might even think doing that was an awesome rush."

Selina grinned. "You definitely will. Because it is."

"I can't believe you threw me out of a window!" Molly said. "I mean, what the hell!"

"I wouldn't have had to if you had just jumped when I told you to."

"Well," Molly sighed, "I don't have as much experience as you do jumping out of buildings, I guess."

"Yeah, well, not all of us can -"

Both women stopped suddenly in their tracks when two dark-hooded men jumped out of an alley, one of them pointing a gun wildly between Molly and Selina. "Into the alley, both of you. Now!"

Selina glanced over at Molly, who had her hands up automatically and looked terrified. "All right. Take it easy there, handsome."

The gunman looked at Selina strangely from under his hood, then watched as Selina grabbed Molly's arm and all but dragged her into the alley. She made sure she fell behind as they entered the darkness, Molly walking ahead of her, and silently, Selina laughed to herself. What she said to Molly earlier was true - these dark alleys and dim city streets would always be her comfort zone, no matter what city she was in, and these boys had no idea what they'd just signed up for.

She waited until they were into the darkest part of the alley, and until she felt the barrel of the gun digging into her back. That was when she made her move, swiftly turning and knocking the gun from the man's hand and then twisting his arm with a torturous crack before sending him down with a kick to his groin. Molly turned and watched, wide-eyed, pulling her taser out but unsure of which direction to point it, because all she could see was a dark blur of bodies and all she could hear were masculine groans and grunts of pain. Then she heard a yelp from Selina, then a feral sounding growl from her throat, and as Molly's eyes adjusted to the dark, she watched the outline of Selina's arm hoist the discarded gun over the last standing man's head and then crack his skull with it. The man crumpled, and Selina stood over the two beaten men, panting.

One of the men twitched, and Selina watched as his chest suddenly sparked and sent him into convulsions. She looked to her right and found Molly holding her taser out in front of her, a determined and pissed off look on her pale face.

"... Well, I had to do something," Molly shrugged when she met Selina's eyes. "Did they hurt you?"

"Got kicked in the side pretty good," Selina shrugged before picking up the gun on the ground and wiping it clean of her prints. She then took it apart and scattered the pieces before stepping up to the only mildly conscious one of the criminals. She dug one of her serrated heels into the crotch of his pants and purred as he hollered in pain, "Something to remember me by."

She then quickly grabbed Molly's hand and they ran off.

"You know they wanted to rape us," Selina said as they quickly made their way to the waiting car. "They didn't even ask for our money."

Molly stared at Selina as she replied a little wildly, "And you wonder why I hate dark alleys!"

* * *

After the incredibly eventful night they'd had in town, Selina and Molly were rather happy to be back on their private little island, and they celebrated their night of success and averted attacks by opening a bottle of white wine and retreating to Selina's bedroom. They also sent Alfred home, and Selina popped her head in on both of her sleeping kids before climbing in bed with the wine and her best friend.

"I swear to God," Molly said as Selina filled her glass, "that was hands down... the most badass thing I've ever seen. I mean, you totally owned those guys."

Selina shrugged and allowed herself to grin a little bit as she set the bottle down and sipped at her own glass. "Yeah, well... I used to have to do that a lot more than you would think."

Molly shook her head and looked into her glass as she said, "Honestly, a lot of tonight was terrifying, but I'm glad I went. Talk about a bachelorette party."

"Definitely one to remember," Selina agreed as they clinked their glasses together and smiled. Then, before they could take a proper drink, Selina heard the front door burst open and in came a flood of loud, slurring male voices. She and Molly shared a look before getting up to see exactly what kind of state their men had returned in.

Selina never expected to step into the hallway and see Eric walking a limping and stumbling Bruce into his own house - that was the first thing that got her. The second was the sight of Blake rushing in behind them and then puking in her kitchen sink.

_Fantastic_.

"Selin-aaa!" Bruce slurred when he looked up and saw his soon-to-be wife walking towards him. "I've got it, let go."

"Have it your way," Eric shrugged and let him go. Bruce promptly fell directly on to Selina, who laughed as she helped hold him up.

"Well, well, you really are wasted," Selina chuckled just before Bruce nodded with a laugh and gave her a big, sloppy kiss.

Eric grimaced and said, "He threw up not even fifteen minutes ago."

"Gah, Bruce! Gross!" Selina exclaimed, pushing him away as much as she could without knocking him over. Meanwhile, Molly walked in and blushed instantly when Eric winked at her for the second time that night. That was when Christian walked in the front door, and instantly he asked loudly, "Oh, what, you gonna kiss her again?!"

Eric glanced behind him and grinned. "Why, do you think she'd like me to?"

"I don't! Wait - _again_?" Molly repeated, confused.

"Yes, in the interest of full honesty, I told your husband of our little kiss," Eric said casually. Molly rolled her eyes at him and then started walking to Christian.

"Are you mad? I didn't even kiss him back, and I didn't even like it!" Molly said, beginning to talk very quickly as she approached him."Or, well, I might have liked it a little bit, but -"

"You leave me no choice, Molly," Christian said, his tone grave as he looked his wife over.

Her eyes widened. "No choice? What do you mean? It was under thirty seconds!"

Christian shook his head. "I think I may have to punish you, darling."

Molly's eyes softened as she finally got it. "Oh. Yeah - yeah, I was bad. I deserve it."

Eric made a gagging sound, but the couple ignored him as Christian picked up his wife and tossed her over her shoulder. She giggled as she called, "Night, Selina! See you bright and early tomorrow!"

Selina bade them farewell, then asked Eric, "Where did Blake go?"

Eric glanced into the kitchen as replied, "Passed out on the floor in front of the dishwasher."

Meanwhile, Bruce was swaying on his feet and kissing Selina's neck even though she kept slapping his face away, and with an amused expression Selina asked, "Mind helping me get him to bed?"

"I suppose not," Eric shrugged, and together, they dragged Bruce out of the hallway and into his own bed.

Bruce was mumbling and clawing at Selina to try to get her into bed with him, but she slid out of reach and turned to Eric once he was safely in bed. "Thank you for getting them all home. Especially Bruce."

Eric nodded. Bruce muttered something unintelligible, but Eric assumed it was another insult. "Anytime, Selina. I'll leave you two alone now. Try to get some sleep before the big day."

Selina nodded, returning her friend's warm smile before he left the room. She climbed into bed a moment later, and again Bruce was all over her, drunkenly and stupidly and sloppily. She thought it was as annoying as it was hilarious.

"Bruce, stop."

"No," he said, kissing her shoulder, "I want you, I need you now."

"You really don't," she said, gently pulling him away by his hair.

"I do," he insisted, trying to pull her shirt up. "Please..."

"Bruce," she sighed, "you're so wasted that you probably physically can't do it right now."

"Physically can't -" He jerked his head up and looked at her with very dazed hazel eyes, then said, "I'm fucking Batman!"

She smiled and raised her eyebrows. "I take it back - you're not wasted, you're completely shitfaced."

Bruce dropped his head on to her chest then, laughing and laughing. She laughed with him, wishing she'd recorded some of this.

Exactly two minutes later, he was sound asleep. Selina eased him down on his pillow and shook her head as she turned off the lights.

_What a day_. Tomorrow would have to be quite a day itself to top this one.

**A/N: Yes, I quoted a tiny bit from Christian Bale's Terminator rant, and I regret nothing. :p I have been DYING to write this chapter for months, so I am just giddy to have finally gotten to this point of the story :D More good stuff ahead! Thank you to everyone for your reviews and support, and to midnightwings96 for being instrumental in this chapter especially - her ideas are always the best! - and I hope everyone enjoys Drunk!Bruce as much as I enjoyed writing him :)**


	33. Chapter 33

Selina awoke on the morning of her wedding at 6:30 AM, when her phone started ringing next to her head on the nearby nightstand. Molly hadn't been kidding about "bright and early".

"I'm awake," she groaned into the phone before immediately hanging up and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. The sun had not yet risen outside, and it took her a moment or two of half-asleep bleariness before she realized that she was _really_ going through with this.

_I'm getting married today_, she thought to herself, expecting some sort of last-minute panic attack to overtake her, but that tight internal twisting and loss of ability to breathe never came. Instead, she looked to her right and looked at her fiancé - her groom, as it were - and couldn't help but smile a little bit. He was sprawled out face-down on the bed, snoring, sleeping like a dead man for the first time in God only knew how long. Normally a pin dropping on the opposite side of the house would wake him up, but today, she doubted a full marching band bursting into the room would have done the trick.

He was going to feel like such crap today. She felt a brief twinge of guilt for his night of drunkenness, but then it quickly passed. He deserved a good old-fashioned night of drinking before his wedding, after all, but she could only imagine how he'd be cursing the very name of whiskey in a few hours.

Silently she slipped out of bed and, after a moment or two in the bathroom, left the bedroom to check in on the kids. She peeked in on Thomas first, who was happily tucked into his crib and sound asleep, then moved on to Helena's room.

To Selina's surprise, Helena was up and out of bed, bright-eyed and sitting on her floor in her pink pajamas playing with her stuffed ponies. She smiled up at her mother and then patted the floor next to her, squeaking, "Play, mama."

Selina smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, baby. We've got lots to do and probably not enough time to do it in."

* * *

A few hours later, Bruce's impossibly heavy eyes opened to the far-away sound of the most familiar voice in his life, as well as the most excruciatingly bright light he'd ever seen.

"Bruce... sir... wake up."

His hand found his forehead as he turned over on his back, then slid down to his eyes to shield them from the offensive light. His body ached, the room was spinning, and for the life of him, he couldn't recall what he'd done to cause this - had he gotten hit by a bus?

"How drunk are we talking?" Bruce heard another familiar voice ask. It took him a good moment or two to place the name to the face... _Fox_...

"Oh, he got wasted," an English-tipped tongue responded. "Threw up like three times."

Finally Bruce decided to throw the sheet off of his legs and sit up. Or try to, anyway - he didn't get very far.

"Easy there," Alfred said, and as Bruce squinted and tried to open his eyes fully, he felt a cold glass be pressed into his hand. "Drink this."

Bruce looked up at Alfred and then scanned the room, finding Lucius and Christian leaning against the wall in front of his bed. Christian smiled brightly and chirped, "Morning, Batman!"

Those two words were all Bruce needed to hear for his memory to kick in. It all came back in a flood - whiskey, vodka, Blake, Christian, Eric, a lot of F-bombs and even more vomiting. A wave of horrible nausea overcame him as he looked down at the clear, fizzy liquid in his hand.

Bruce groaned and tried to fall back down on the bed. Alfred steadied him and said, "Sorry, can't let you do that. It's already ten."

Ten... why did that matter?

A stumbling noise from the doorway got his attention. Bruce looked over to find Blake, looking as bad as Bruce felt, nearly falling inside of the room and grasping a lamp for support as he said, "I'm up, I'm up - where's Bruce - Bruce, there you are... I'm sorry, we were supposed to be up two hours ago. Oh God... I'm gonna... oh..."

Blake then threw up on Bruce's carpeted bedroom floor. The sound of the retching made Bruce's own already very active gag reflex kick in, and hurriedly Alfred grabbed a large bowl from the floor that he'd brought in just in case and stuck it in Bruce's lap just in time.

Christian, who didn't look the least bit hungover himself, laughed while Alfred gave Lucius a weary and unamused look. "I'm getting too bloody old for this, Lucius."

Fox raised an eyebrow as Bruce gasped in between heaves, then nearly doubled over on himself as he started _really_ puking. "Forty two is a bad age for hangovers, Mr. Wayne, very bad. I speak from experience."

Blake slid down to the floor as he groaned apologies and wailed about how he was the worst best man ever. Those words made Bruce's brain finally snap online, and he jerked his head up from the bowl as he exclaimed, "I'm getting _married_ today!"

"Not as this rate, you aren't," Christian joked as he went to help out the hot mess that was John Blake.

"Alfred," Bruce said seriously, panting as he handed his former butler the disgusting bowl, "Alfred - why did you let me sleep this late?"

Alfred shoved the bowl back into Bruce's hands and snapped back, "If that's your attitude then you can deal with your own bloody sick bowl! I've been trying to wake you up since seven-thirty, with Fox as my witness. Now I suggest you drink the damn seltzer and get in the shower before Selina has all of our heads."

Bruce pushed the bowl back to Alfred, much to the older man's ire, and leapt out of bed. The room spun and the nausea intensified but he slammed the drink down on his way to the bathroom anyway - he knew it was a stupid idea but that didn't stop him - and he began to focus on a part of his years-old training that he hadn't had to in a very long time.

The bathroom door slammed behind him and he quickly shed his clothes as he flipped the shower on, disciplining himself to ignore the fact that he felt as if he was actually about to die and press on with what he needed to do, with what was necessary. A spike of adrenaline was helping keep him on his feet as he stepped under a scalding hot spray of water, his mind working to do what it had done countless times before when he had to keep working despite pain, sickness, or injuries.

In only a few short hours, he'd be married. _Married_, his mind mulled as he steadied himself with a hand on the shower wall... _married_. At last, able to give Selina his name, his ring, bind himself to her in this old-fashioned way that he'd been yearning to for so long. The mother of his children, the love of his life, the thief who snuck in and stole everything from him and made him love her all the more for it - finally, he'd be able to call Selina Kyle his wife.

He focused on that thought, and the intoxicating emotions surrounding it. It was enough to make even the worst of hangovers just bearable enough to make it through that first horrible hour of waking up.

* * *

Outside of the Wayne house, the island was a veritable beehive of activity. The beach was being set up by the event design & planning folks hired by Molly, and in the matron of honor's house, Helena was screaming and throwing a fit while a hairstylist tried to put curlers in her hair.

Anita was there with her little Kylie, Leslie was dressed and ready before any of the others were - looking classy and sophisticated in a lavender dress and jacket set - and Selina and Molly were getting their hair done by two other stylists while their kids endured the loudness and general chaos of the final preparations, all in Molly's bedroom.

"Is Bruce awake?" Molly barked into her phone as Selina watched a vein in her friend's forehead protrude as if it were about to burst. Molly had downed two red bulls already and was tapping her toes and looking around wild-eyed, barely able to sit still long enough to get her hair styled. By contrast, Selina was sitting quite calmly, wincing only when her own stylist would tug her hair a bit too hard. "He is? Good. You guys better get up and get moving because we're running out of time. No, four hours is not plenty of time!"

Selina half-smiled and glanced towards Helena, who was now trying to rip the curlers out of her hair with Kylie's help. Aidan wobbled up to the two girls and smiled, babbling happily, and in her irritation, Helena looked at him and smacked him in the face. Kylie then imitated her and smacked Aidan herself, and Anita hurried to put a stop to that.

"It's like they're the cool kids club, and Aidan wants so bad to be in it but there's no boys allowed," Anita chuckled, patting Aidan's blonde head as he wailed. Helena and Kylie laughed at his crying and toddled off to find some other trouble to get into.

Selina shook her head, looking across the room to where three dresses were hanging on the wall. On the left was Molly's dress, a pale aqua gown, strapless and slim-fitted, with two long columns of fabric that flowed from just under the neckline to the ground, creating a flowy, island-y - in Molly's words - feel to the dress. Next to that dress was Selina's, in all of it's lacy gorgeousness and classic beauty that Selina had to admit really did suit her well. That fabulous consultant at the dress shop really did know his stuff.

And beside her dress was Helena's, a ridiculously gorgeous thing that Selina owed Leslie credit for. She'd found a woman who made beautiful custom dresses for little girls, and the design of the dress had been mostly her idea as well. The skirt of it was like a tutu but fuller, almost ridiculously so, and the top of it was a small crocheted bodice held up by a satin tie that gathered behind the neck. Half of the tulle skirt was the same shade of aqua as Molly's dress, and the other half was a pale lavender. The bodice was aqua and decorated with three big similarly colored flowers, the satin ties were lavender, and since Helena was currently in a phase where she despised any and all footwear, she'd be walking down the "aisle" barefoot in her big fluffy dress.

Hilariously, next to Helena's dress was the tiniest little tux that Selina had ever seen, complete with a bow tie. Helena and Thomas were going to be the cutest little flower girl and ring bearer that the islands had ever seen.

"Ugh!" Molly exclaimed, clicking her phone off and hurriedly punching another number in before slamming the phone back to her ear. "I swear, if those boys are so much as a minute late... yes! Talk to me. Yeah. Yeah. Good! And the flowers? Okay, they'd better be. Bye."

Selina gave Molly an inquisitive look, and Molly explained, "The cake just got delivered to the venue. The flowers should be here in the next fifteen minutes. If they aren't, I'm not paying full price. They can keep the deposit and be happy with that."

Selina chuckled. This was exactly how Molly had acted for her own wedding, all high-strung perfectionism and snappy stressed-out barking of commands, and as annoying as it was - and that was a lot - Selina appreciated the place it came from. Molly just wanted everything to be perfect for her best friend, and sure enough, without her, Selina was pretty sure she would have just ended up eloping.

"So," Molly sighed as her hair was styled into a simple but very pretty curled side-ponytail with pieces framing her face, "after this the makeup artist can do you first, and then I want to get you into your dress. What kind of sexy stuff did you end up getting?"

By "sexy stuff" she meant lingerie, so Selina replied, "I wanted black, but I ended up taking your advice. So, very white."

Molly smiled and said, "Good! It's your wedding, you gotta have white!"

"I've got two kids, Molly, I think we're a little bit beyond the whole virginal illusion," Selina shrugged.

Molly scoffed. "That's not the point! It's your wedding, and you get to wear white, period. Besides, you wear enough black as it is. I'm sure Bruce will appreciate the change in color of what he'll get to rip off later."

"Actually..."

"Oh my God!" Molly interrupted, staring at her phone. "Dammit, I missed a call from the minister!"

Selina saved her thought for later, just as she heard a new group of footsteps enter the room. She turned her head as much as she could manage while her hair was being worked on and watched as some people she'd never met before carried in bouquets, loose petals and other flowers. She did a double take when she saw the largest bouquet, hers - she'd sarcastically told Molly once during one of their hair-pulling conversations that she wanted a bouquet full of black roses decorated with little sparkly claws and held together by a whip. Molly had, at the time, rolled her eyes and left the room to calm down before her head exploded, but apparently she'd decided to incorporate Selina's love of dark colors into the bouquets.

She had no idea what kind of flowers they were, but she saw purple ones so dark and striking that her jaw dropped a little. Even more shocking, the roses in the bouquet appeared to be, at first glance, actually black - but as she looked closer, she saw rich, deep red coloring the petals around the edges. It seemed a strange combination at first, dark purple and blackish red roses, but it was utterly beautiful.

When she looked at Molly next, her jaw still hanging open a bit, the younger woman hung up her phone from another call and glanced up, noticing the newly arrived flowers for the first time. "Oh good, the bouquets are here!"

"Molly... those are..." Words genuinely failed Selina.

"Amazing, huh?" Molly grinned. "Those are black magic roses and a type of lily I found on Google. I know you acted like you didn't care about the flowers, but... I know how you love dark colors and dark things, so..."

"It's perfect," Selina admitted, looking at the flowers again. "I never thought in a million years I'd be actually excited about flowers."

Molly clapped her hands together happily. "Yay! Then I did good."

A moment later, Molly's hair was finished, and she bounded up and towards the door. "I'm gonna go check on the boys! Back in ten!"

* * *

"The boys" were all huddled in the bedroom next door, in the process of dressing and attempting to make themselves look halfway decent, when Molly burst into the room without warning. "Okay, how's the morning after coming along?"

Blake was sitting on the edge of Bruce's bed, all of his suit besides his jacket on, with his aching head in his hands. Alfred and Lucius were carrying on a merry conversation near the glass doors that led to the outside deck, both quite dressed and ready, and Christian was in the bathroom fixing his hair. Bruce half-stumbled out of the closet, fiddling with the cuff links of his untucked, half-buttoned white shirt as he met Molly's scrutinizing gaze.

"Oh, God," Molly sighed, handing the barely-there Blake a little box of boutonnieres. "Chris, out of the bathroom!"

She dragged Bruce into his own bathroom and sat him down on the lidded toilet as she pulled out a small zip-up bag from seemingly out of nowhere. "How do you feel?"

"Like hell," Bruce admitted wearily.

"Have you eaten? Tilt your head back," she instructed, pulling out a bottle of eye drops from the bag.

"No," he muttered as she lifted his left eyelid and dispensed the drops into his eye, then did the same to his right.

"Blake! Get Bruce some coffee and food, now!" she shouted over her shoulder before turning back to Bruce. "Okay, that'll help with the bloodshot eyes. You'll feel better once you eat."

Bruce skeptically half-groaned, slumping a little as Molly started plucking through his mostly-dry hair with her fingers. "What are you gonna do with your hair?"

He shrugged. "Slick it back, I guess."

"But you do that every day," Molly sighed, the gears of her brain turning. "Tell you what... do you have scissors?"

Bruce's eyes widened. "Why?"

"You're getting married on the beach," she pointed out, taking the unfastened tie off from around his neck as she spoke. "You don't need the tie, and if you slick your hair back, the wind's just gonna blow it to hell anyway. Where's your scissors?"

"Molly..."

"I'm giving you tousled, beachy, sexy hair - deal with it!" Molly suddenly snapped, and Bruce instantly fell silent.

"Second drawer on the left," he muttered.

* * *

Molly got back to her own home just in time to change into her dress before helping get Selina into her own. Leslie and Anita shuffled the kids out to give them a last snack before getting them into their own little outfits, and in their brief solitude, the two women shared a moment of slight giggling as Selina stepped into her dress.

"This is so weird," Selina chuckled, enjoying the feel of the expensive lace as it slid over her skin. Molly helped get it adjusted and made sure it didn't touch her elegant low chignon as it went on. "I'm not even freaking out, and that's the weirdest part."

"I know, you're so calm and I'm the one running around like a rabid... something," Molly said, shaking out the dress's train behind Selina's feet. "There. Go look in the mirror."

Selina nodded and walked the short distance to Molly's full-length mirror.

"Oh, wait!" Molly squeaked. "Not yet! Where's your veil? Where - oh, there it is."

A moment later, Molly fastened the long veil in Selina's hair, then gave her permission to look. Selina once again felt that same surreal sensation that she'd felt the first time she'd tried on this dress, the strangely peaceful rightness of it all, of actually feeling like a bride and not someone pretending for someone else's sake.

Nothing was overdone or over the top, not even her makeup. It was light and clean, fitting with the beachy setting, just a little bit more dramatic around the eyes than usual. Her lips were not red but a lighter, more natural tone, and balancing the sleekness of her hairstyle were two strands in front, curled and falling free at the corners of her eyes down to her jawline.

She may not have spent her life pining for this day and wishing on dying stars for the privilege of being a man's bride, but now she at least understood why almost every other woman in the world did. To a point.

"I'm gonna cry," Molly said, looking at Selina's reflection from behind her, clasping her hands to her lips. "Yep, I'm gonna cry..."

Selina shook her head and smiled, her gaze moving from Molly's emotional face to the bed that was directly in the mirror's reflection behind them, and she crinkled her nose a little bit as she said, "Molly, this mirror is positioned like this for a reason, isn't it?"

Molly dabbed at the corner of her eyes and replied with a still-emotional voice, "Don't judge me, Miss I-banged-Batman-in-his-Batcave. Which reminds me..."

Selina didn't know why that reminded Molly to fetch Bruce's mother's pearl necklace, but it did. She clasped it around Selina's neck and then said, "I guess this counts for something old. For something borrowed..." Molly pulled out a very sparkly hairpin from a jewelry box on a nearby dresser, "I figure this works. I wore it on my wedding. Real diamonds, by the way."

Selina watched as Molly gently slid the pin into her hair, near the top of her chignon. "Oh... you didn't have to do that, Molly. Thank you."

"Yes I did have to," Molly smiled. "And since your garter's got blue in it, that can be your something blue. For something new..." She again reached towards her dresser, this time grabbing a small black box. "This is actually from Bruce. I was keeping it here so you wouldn't find it, and he was supposed to give it to you yesterday, but I guess he forgot... what with being drunk as a skunk and all. And there's no way in hell I'm letting him come over here and see you before the wedding, so he - very begrudgingly - agreed to let me give it to you for him."

Selina grinned but shook her head as she took the box. "I don't know why I'm surprised..."

She flipped open the box and felt her surprise grow at the sight of a pair of pearl earrings. For a split second she was a bit confused - she already had a pair of pearl earrings, the ones she stole in Key West not long ago - but as her eyes swept over the jewelry, her confusion dissipated. Those earrings that she stole had been simple, lone single pearls, but these were, for one, larger, and hanging on thin, small strands made of diamonds, anchored by a larger diamond that would rest in her ear.

The implication of the gift was obvious to Selina. The purpose of it, beyond Bruce giving his soon-to-be wife a gorgeous piece of jewelry, was as clear as the flawless diamonds adorning the earrings. Anything she could steal would never equal to what he could give her, and not just in matters of expensive jewelry.

_Subtle, Bruce_, she smirked as she lightly traced the earrings with the tip of a manicured finger. She'd have to remember to challenge this notion of his someday, but for now, she was happy to wear his beautiful gift.

"He's got good taste," Molly sighed as Selina put the earrings in.

"Of course he does," Selina replied cheekily. "Look who's he marrying."

Molly laughed, then again dashed off to grab something. When she returned, she had one of the purple lilies in her hand. She gently brushed Selina's veil back and placed the lily in her hair, just over her ear. "There we go. Finishing touch."

And it was.

* * *

"How are we feeling?" Alfred smiled, fastening a boutonniere to Bruce's jacket as the younger man took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"My head is still pounding and I want to throw up," Bruce muttered.

"Sure that's from the hangover and not the anxiety of getting married in an hour?" Alfred asked, patting Bruce's shoulder once the rose was fastened.

Bruce sighed and went to look out the glass doors in his bedroom, to glance at the ceremony site now complete and ready whenever they were. "I think both, to be honest. Why am I nervous? This is ridiculous."

Blake was in the bathroom and Lucius had excused himself a few minutes ago, leaving Bruce and Alfred alone for the moment as Alfred came to join him at the door. "It's only natural, sir. I wasn't fortunate enough to know your parents when they married but I heard quite a few tales of your father's own anxiety on the day of their wedding. Your mother liked to say that he looked quite green as he watched her walk down the aisle."

Bruce suddenly remembered his mother saying just that. It was a very vague memory, probably from when Bruce was six years old or so, and he never would have recalled it if Alfred hadn't sparked his memory. He wondered how many other little pieces of his parents were tucked away, growing more and more dim until one day he'd forget for good.

"Bruce." Alfred's voice cut through Bruce's suddenly dark thoughts, and he turned to look at his former butler. "No sad thoughts today."

Bruce nodded. Alfred added, "Try not to dwell on the people that should be here. Focus on the ones that are."

Bruce nodded again. Outside the window, he saw Lucius standing near the narrow little rows of seats in front of the arch, talking to his niece, whom Bruce had no idea decided to come to the wedding after all. "Blake doesn't know she's here, does he?"

"I would guess not."

Bruce sighed. "Well. This could either turn out okay or turn out horrible."

* * *

"I see you changed your mind," Lucius smiled, taking a seat on the beach next to Raven. She nodded, looking up at the elaborate archway, admiring the simple elegance of it. It was decorated liberally in fresh flowers, the same ones used in the bouquets, draped in pearls and hanging crystals, including a cross hanging at the center, just over where the couple would stand as they wed.

"Yeah. Can't hide forever, I guess," she shrugged, smiling faintly at Lucius.

Lucius nodded, then glanced behind him as another familiar face arrived. It was just like Gordon to arrive with virtual minutes to spare, saving himself the awkwardness of standing around uselessly while others ran around with last minute activities.

Meanwhile, back inside Molly's house, Leslie popped her head inside the bedroom and announced, "The minister's here."

"Excellent!" Molly smiled, adjusting Selina's veil.

"And he's drunk," Leslie added.

Selina laughed, but Molly's eyes became murderous. "This is what we get when I only have a week to pull this together. A drunk minister! Are you kidding me?!"

Molly then stormed out of the room, presumably to chew out the aforementioned minister, and as she did, Helena came running into the room, dressed in her big tutu dress and wearing a big smile for Selina. "Mama, look! Look!"

"I see!" Selina smiled back, melting a little at how utterly gorgeous her daughter was. Her hair was long and curly as it hit the middle of her back, and she looked every bit the spoiled little princess in her dress as she held her hands out and spun around to give Selina the full view. "Oh, baby, you're so beautiful! Wait until Daddy sees you, he'll have a fit."

Helena nodded with a giggle, in such a good mood that even Aidan, dressed in his own little suit, laughing and trying to hug her didn't make her try to bite his face off, like it normally would have. Instead, she merely pushed him away and then scampered off to find Kylie. He went to chase after her, and Leslie sidestepped them to enter the room fully. Selina's heart melted even more to see Thomas in her arms, in his little tux, looking so incredibly tiny and cute, not to mention a little bit nerdy.

"The photographer's behind me," Leslie said as she placed Thomas in Selina's outstretched arms. Selina nodded absently, by now used to the photographer's coming and going throughout the day - he'd been there as long as Selina had been - and she smiled at her son as he looked up into her eyes and laughed.

Leslie thought it was really something, the sight of Selina, fully dressed and ready to walk down the aisle in a matter of moments, holding the son that she'd struggled to love only a few months ago, and smiling at him like she'd never seen anything so precious before in her life. Leslie was glad that the photographer got a shot or two of it, because it was the first time she'd ever seen Selina look at Thomas with that much affection.

"You're a stunning bride, Selina," Leslie smiled, and Selina looked up from Thomas to smile back.

"Can you believe I'm a bride at all?" Selina grinned as Leslie sat down beside her on the edge of the bed.

"Actually," Leslie sighed, "yes. I knew it would take a long time and one hell of a man, but... I always wanted this for you. I've known you a long time, you know. Bruce isn't the only one who always knew that there was more to you."

"I guess you really have known me forever," Selina mused, going back to the first time that she met Leslie. She was nineteen, if she remembered correctly, and it was the night she blew up her mentor's home and took the girls he'd been pimping to Leslie's clinic. It had taken a few more years for them to have any kind of relationship, but the passing years only strengthened the bond they did eventually create.

"Yes. But the last few years are the first where I've known you to be truly happy. I'm very proud of you, by the way, for not giving up a few months ago. I know what you went through was terrible."

Selina shrugged, glancing down at the still-grinning Thomas as she replied, "I did want to give up. I don't know why I didn't."

"I do," Leslie smiled, putting a hand on Selina's shoulder.

Selina returned her oldest friend's smile, then glanced at the door as he heard a knock. The door opened slightly, and a grinning, handsome face appeared in the small gap. "Might I see the bride before she walks down the... sand?"

Selina rolled her eyes. "Sure, why not."

Eric came strolling into the room, dressed in an expensive suit and green-and-gold tie, his black hair swaying slightly as he walked. He walked everywhere like he owned the ground beneath him, much like Selina herself tended to do. His eyes swept over her and he shook his head as he took her in. "He's a lucky bastard. You're stunning, Selina. Utterly stunning. Not that you don't already know."

Selina grinned. "Thanks. Where've you been lurking all morning?"

"Oh, I never left your house last night," he grinned. "Slept upstairs in one of your guest rooms."

Selina chuckled. "Should have figured. Want to hold my kid for a minute so I can go try to pee one last time?"

"Well of course I do," Eric said, sitting down on the bed after Leslie vacated it, taking the boy from Selina's arms and smiling widely down at him. "Well, haven't you gotten big? Saw Helena downstairs, by the way, and she nearly mauled me when she saw me."

"Yeah, she's pretty much obsessed with you. Blake too. Who knows why," Selina said, looking at herself in the mirror just as Molly burst into the room.

"Okay, I got the minister some coffee and a banana. He's not that horribly drunk, so I think we can still pull it off, and everyone's all here, and... Eric's in my bed."

"Hello, darling," Eric grinned while Thomas tried to bat his tiny fists at Eric's face.

Molly cleared her throat and turned to Selina. "So. Only like twenty minutes until it's time. Do you have to pee or anything?"

"Yes, so let's go do that," Selina said, and together the two girls headed to the adjoining bathroom. Helena wandered into the bedroom then, and when Selina re-emerged from her bathroom break, she found Eric sitting with both of her kids in his lap. Selina shook her head but kept silent as Molly barked, "Okay, Eric, out. We're down to the wire, time to get serious."

"As you wish," Eric said, handing Thomas to Leslie and putting Helena down on her feet, which she wasn't happy about. "I'll be outside. Gloating to the groom about seeing his blushing bride before he did."

"Eric," Selina groaned, "you're going to end up losing your spleen one of these days."

He pretended not to hear her and grinned as he left. Selina rolled her eyes and then smiled down at her daughter, who was protesting Eric's departure. As she squawked, Molly hurriedly finished the little girl's hair, putting the top half of it into a ponytail and then fastening one of the leftover lilies just above her ear.

"Okay," Molly sighed. "That's done, she's officially your ridiculously gorgeous little mini-me. I think we're actually done. Wait, let's do a makeup check just in case."

Selina nodded, feeling an unexpected burst of butterflies inside as the moment drew nearer.

* * *

"I can't believe your minister's drunk," Blake said, walking with Bruce up to the archway as the minister in question piddled around the small podium with his papers. "It's classic."

Bruce sighed as they passed the white chairs for the guests, waiting for the moment to come when Blake would notice Raven's presence and have a meltdown. "Yeah, well, I'm starting to think you're still drunk."

"Why?"

Bruce nodded politely to the pudgy, balding minister and turned as he and Blake stood under the arch, facing the seats. It was then that Blake's eyes finally scanned all the chairs, and as Blake paled and looked as if he may vomit again, Bruce replied, "That's why."

"Shit," Blake hissed, quickly looking away. "_Shit_."

"Calm down. You're not fifteen."

"God, look at her," Blake said under his breath. "She's even more beautiful than when I saw her last. _Shit_."

Bruce sighed, then growled slightly as his gaze shifted to a dark-haired man approaching himself and Blake. And here he'd been hoping Eric had gotten in a tragic accident on his way home last night and met an untimely demise.

"Isn't this all lovely?" Eric smiled, extending his hand to Bruce. "Totally exceeded my expectations. How are you feeling after your night of debauchery, mate?"

Bruce faked a smile and shook the other man's hand. "Feeling fine. _Mate_."

"Good, good," Eric replied. "By the way, I peeked in on Selina a moment or two ago - breathtaking, utterly breathtaking. You won't be disappointed."

Bruce's eye twitched slightly, the fake smile fading from his face as he decided that he simply wasn't in the mood to fabricate niceties. "Eric, I appreciate you getting us home safely last night, but -"

"This is it," Alfred called as he started heading to Molly's house. "Five minutes and we're getting started."

Bruce swallowed the rest of his words and plastered another fake smile on his face. He'd be damned if he'd let Eric's annoying face have any effect whatsoever on his wedding day. "Thanks for coming, I know it means a lot to Selina."

Eric could see plainly how painful it was for Bruce to grit those words out, so he spared the groom further pain by nodding politely and turning to find a seat.

Blake's eyes widened and then quickly narrowed when Eric decided to take the seat next to Raven and, of course, introduce himself with his blinding white and highly charming smile. She smiled back and shook his hand, and they appeared to chat for a moment.

Now it was Blake's turn to despise the British master thief. "All right, now _I'm_ sick of this dick."

* * *

"Okay," Molly said, taking a deep breath as everyone gathered downstairs near her front door, "so, Alfred and Thomas go first. Then Helena, then me, then Leslie and Selina. Alfred, you have Thomas' ringbearer pillow?"

Alfred held up the pillow in question. "Right here."

"Okay. And I'll be walking closely behind Helena in case she gets distracted or drops her petal basket or something," Molly said. "So, Selina, you and Leslie should wait until I'm maybe about halfway to the 'aisle' before you start walking."

Selina nodded, her bouquet in hand and Leslie at her side. Helena was holding her little white basket of petals and Thomas was cooing in Alfred's arms, now clutching his pillow himself, and after looking them all over one last time, Molly smiled and pulled Selina into a tight embrace. "You're so beautiful. It's gonna be a great day, you're gonna love it all. I love you."

"I love you too, now shut up before you make me cry," Selina said, pulling away and taking a deep breath.

"I've been crying every ten minutes since nine," Molly admitted with a shrug before taking a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do this."

Alfred's eyes met Selina's just before Molly pushed him out the door, and he nodded to her. She did the same, knowing there was a lot that the older man wanted to say to her right now, but there would be time for those almost excruciatingly heartfelt conversations later.

He walked out the door with her son, and suddenly there really was no turning back. The wedding was on, it was starting, and within a matter of minutes, Selina was really going to do it. She was going to get married.

"Bruce has the marriage license, right?" Selina suddenly asked, just before Molly sent Helena out.

"Yeah," Molly replied. "The minister has it. If he hasn't puked on it yet."

Selina nodded and drew in a long breath. Molly smiled and added, "Everything's fine. It's going to go perfect."

Selina nodded again. Molly then gave Helena a tap, the little girl hopped out the door, and Molly flashed Selina one more excited smile before following.

Leslie took Selina's arm and patted her slightly. "Looks like the nervousness hit you."

"Yeah," Selina admitted. "I can't breathe."

"Yes you can," Leslie assured her, adjusting her veil for her, as well as the lily in her hair. "You're going to be just fine, dear. This isn't half as terrifying as jumping off a rooftop or, say, saving a city from impending doom."

Selina laughed nervously. "I don't know about that."

"I do," Leslie replied. "It's time to go."

Selina nodded, bracing herself and clutching her bouquet tightly in her fist as her other arm joined with Leslie's. She closed her eyes and forced one foot in front of the other.

* * *

Bruce stood at the altar, his hands clutched together in front of him and his bones rigid as he watched Alfred walk with Thomas in his arms. Bruce smiled, his heart warming at the sight and helping to ease his own anxiety as the moment he'd been craving for some time came closer and closer. He and Alfred shared a smile just before the older man sat in the front row, cradling Thomas gently in his worn arms. Then Helena came bobbing into view, and Bruce laughed.

She was virtually dancing down the aisle, tossing big fistfuls of petals in the air and smiling and giggling, at least until she saw Kylie in Anita's lap in the middle row. She stopped dead in her tracks and started crowing, "Kylie! Kylie! Kylie!"

Anita glanced at Bruce, who nodded in amusement, and with his blessing, she let her little girl down to join Helena in her flower girl duties. Helena squeaked joyously when her little BFF joined her, and together they hopped down the aisle, scattering petals and basking in their own cuteness as they stole the show for just a moment or two.

Molly followed closely behind, as she'd promised, though she wasn't quite upstaged by the two nearly three-year-olds. Christian shot her smoldering looks that she smirked at, Aidan on his lap exclaimed "Mama!", and after she sashayed to the altar, she stood beside the " X" she'd drawn in the sand to mark Selina's spot an hour ago.

For a very brief, very terrifying moment, Bruce felt panic start to rise up from the pits of his mind. Selina wasn't there yet for him to see, and it suddenly struck him - what if she changed her mind at the last minute? What if she turned and ran, decided that she really couldn't and wouldn't do this after all, and left him standing here like this?

What if he'd pushed her too far, asked her too much, taken too much and not given enough in return?

It was icy-cold, deeply penetrating panic, and nobody could read it on his face beside Alfred in the front row and Blake at his side. Bruce closed his eyes for a split second in an attempt to pull himself together.

Blake nudging his arm caused his eyes to pop open.

"There she is," his best man whispered.

Bruce smiled. _There she was_. And she was everything he'd ever dreamed of and far more.

* * *

Selina's last few seconds before taking that final step were filled with a memory that hadn't surfaced in her mind for years. It hit her hard, out of nowhere, and made her stop in her tracks.

_Suddenly, she was seven years old again, innocent, unhurt and untouched. She had raided her mother's closet, donned a white sundress that went well past her feet, a long strand of fake pearls - her mother could have afforded real ones but chose not to - and to top it all off, a long, thin white scarf that Selina draped over her head and declared to be a veil._

_She rushed out to her mother then, Helena Kyle, who had been tending to dinner, and squealed, "Look, Mommy! I'm getting married!"_

_"Oh, really?" her mother had replied, smiling sweetly and wiping her hands on a hand towel before stepping away from a steaming pot on the stove. "Aren't you a beautiful bride! Who's the lucky groom?"_

_Selina shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Someone cute! And tall!"_

_Helena picked Selina up then, adjusting the scarf on her head and replying, "Well, of course! Gotta have that! But he's gotta treat you well, too. Don't ever forget that part."_

_"I won't, Mommy," Selina smiled._

_"Good. And don't forget, you're not allowed to elope. I get to be there for your big day with your super-cute-and-tall groom, in the front row, crying my eyes out. Okay?"_

_Selina giggled. "But why would you cry? Wouldn't you be happy?"_

_"Of course I'd be happy, sweetie. But it's not easy for a mommy to watch her baby grow up. So... don't run off and get married any time soon, deal?"_

_Selina smiled. "Deal."_

_Helena kissed her daughter on the nose. "I love you, Selina."_

_"I love you too, Mommy."_

"Selina?"

Leslie's voice brought Selina back to the present moment with a sudden jolt. Old pain was stabbing at Selina's heart, pain that would never truly leave her and always became worse on big, pivotal days like these. Every new, joyous occasion, like her engagement or the birth of her children or, in today's case, her wedding, was another occasion that her mother wasn't alive to see.

And now, thanks to that badly-timed memory resurfacing, that old pain was alive and well.

"Selina?"

Selina looked at Leslie, inwardly willing herself to focus and grab hold of her anchor. Every time this happened, every time she'd feel herself careening and edging closer to a place she didn't want to be, she'd reach out for that anchor that kept her from floating away. It had never failed her once.

"I'm fine," Selina said, calmly. "I'm ready."

And that was when she finally stepped into view. One look at Bruce standing there at the altar, waiting for her, waiting to make eternal vows to her in front of God and the people closest to them both, and it was all she needed to pull herself to safety. She couldn't ask for a better anchor.

It would never be fair that her mother didn't get to see her fall in love, name a child for her, and marry the man of her dreams. But that was life, and Selina had a family now for the first time since her mother had drawn her final breath. That was what today was about, and what the future was about. That was what her mother would have said, if she had the chance. And it was the truth.

* * *

She was a dream, a beauty beyond his capacity to describe in pure white lace. The long cathedral veil on her head was flowing behind her, trailing along the same white sand as her train was. His mother's pearls had never looked more perfect. His eyes ran over every inch of her as she approached, her eyes as they fixed on to his, her full lips as they smiled just slightly for him, her arm as it held Leslie's lightly. He was glad she'd decided to have Leslie escort down the aisle. It was appropriate and significant, the perfect answer to an imperfect situation. Selina deserved a father to walk her down the aisle and give her away, but there was little point in dwelling on what couldn't be changed. And anyway... maybe it suited Selina far better to be escorted, rather than "given away".

Bruce could see it all as it should have been - Selina's family in one of the front rows, his in the other. His mother and father, choked up and smiling, overjoyed to see their son finally find the woman he'd been looking for. Rachel would have been next to them, equally happy and joyed to see Bruce happy, but also probably rolling her eyes at Bruce for it having taken him so long to finally make Selina his wife. He would have shot her a look back, playfully, and everything would have been perfect.

But, even without those precious, irreplaceable people, it was still perfect. Bruce looked at his love walking to him, the image forever burned into his mind as the standard for perfection, and then he spared a short but potent glance to those in attendance. People like Alfred and Lucius who he'd always known would be present if he was lucky enough to get married; others that he never saw coming, like Molly, Christian, and the man at his side, Blake; one or two - namely, Eric - that he wasn't sure he wanted around, but tolerated for Selina's sake; and, perhaps most significantly, the two unexpected and exquisite little people that he and Selina had brought into the world.

How could he complain when, only a few years ago, all he'd had was an oversized, empty home, an equally oversized bank account, and a broken body? How could he dwell on what he didn't have, when for the first time in his life, he was truly a rich man?

* * *

She took stock of all of their names and faces... Fox, Raven, Eric, Gordon, Christian, Anita, Alfred, the children... Blake, Molly, at the altar, Bruce in the middle. To most anyone else, and nearly any other bride, it would have looked like a pathetically small engagement. Barely worth the effort to set out chairs or hire a DJ. But to Selina, who never expected to have a wedding at all, it was overwhelming. And she decided at that moment that she loved every single person there, at least for that moment in time. Even obnoxious Blake and incorrigible Eric, as well as the stoic but still somehow warm Jim Gordon. Maybe tomorrow she'd go back to indifference with brief interludes of appreciation or affection, but for right then, their genuinely happy faces warmed her more than she'd ever admit out loud.

The hot sun was pouring down on them, but off in the distance, over the other, neighboring islands, there was a storm brewing. Her eyes flickered to the dark, fast-moving clouds for a split second, and she could almost feel Bruce's own eyes pulling her gaze back to him, like a gravitational pull that she couldn't fight. He inclined his head slightly, so slightly that she knew only she had noticed, and she recognized it for what he meant it as. The words were there even if he hadn't spoken them.

_Don't look back, don't look forward. Keep your eyes on me_.

And she did. Before she knew it, she'd nearly reached the altar. She and Leslie came to a standstill, and the older woman kissed her cheek and gave her a smile before letting her go.

Bruce held out his hand to her, and Selina took it, her eyes never leaving his as she handed Molly her bouquet with her other hand. Bruce then took that hand as well, and they faced one another, standing under the archway, in front of a drunk minister and the small group of people who loved them, in the middle of their private paradise.

Bruce mouthed two words to her - you're perfect - and Selina, who rarely cried and even rarer cried publicly, tightened her jaw as her emotions started to bubble under the surface. It didn't help that Molly was already sniffling behind her, or that Leslie was audibly crying next to Alfred and the kids.

"We are gathered here today... to join this man and this woman..."

Selina only half-heard the minister's opening monologue. Bruce's thumbs were lightly brushing over her knuckles, and his eyes still hadn't left hers for even a moment. He may have dubbed her as being perfect, but she begged to differ - from where she was standing, he fit the definition far more easily than she did. His hair was perfectly tousled and clearly not styled by himself - she suspected Molly had played a role there - and the lack of a tie was perfect, given the setting. His eyes looked just slightly greener than usual, surely due to the afternoon sun illuminating them, and aside from Helena's birth, she could think of no other time when she'd seen him so alight with such pure, unmasked, relaxed contentedness and happiness.

She hoped she looked half as happy as he did, because on the inside, she was ready to burst.

* * *

"... Anyway," the minister cleared his throat. "Do you have rings to symbolize the bond you are creating today?"

Bruce nodded, tearing his eyes away from Selina to take the platinum band that Blake was handing to him. Selina did the same, taking a similar, larger band from Molly. Then they faced one another again, moderately stupid grins covering their faces as the minister hiccuped and then said, "And, as I am obligated to state at this point in the ceremony... if anyone feels that these two ought not be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now..."

As if anyone would be that stupid.

"Right then," the minister smiled. "In that case, I'll start with you. Bruce."

Bruce took her left hand in his own, and with his right, he placed her wedding band at her fingertip, slowly and gently sliding it on fully.

"Do you take this woman... Selina Kyle... to be your wife... to have and to hold, to love and to cherish in sickness and health... richer or poorer... for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?"

A small, sweet smile tugged at the corners of his lips as Bruce gave his answer. "I do."

* * *

The way he said those two innocent little words made Selina almost shudder. He'd always been able to say a lot with next to no spoken words, but this... this had been special.

His grip on her hands tightened just slightly as Selina listened to the minister prattle off the same list of vows to her, as she took Bruce's ring and placed it at the tip of his left ring finger. The funny thing was, they'd already lived up to the terms of these vows, many times over. One of the perks of living in sin, Selina supposed.

"... For as long as you both shall live?"

She prayed that her voice wouldn't come out shaky or small.

She also couldn't believe how happy she was to be saying these words. _Imagine that_.

She slid the ring on to his finger. "I do."

* * *

Dreams were funny things. They never lived up to the reality of that moment you spent your years wanting and praying and wishing for. Reality was always, always, incomparably better.

Such was the case as Bruce listened to the minister trip over his own words, then laugh, then clear his throat, eventually getting to the part where he declared them man and wife. Even with an idiot like that guy marrying them, all of the crazy rushing of the last week to get the wedding ready, and the physical misery of waking up with the worst hangover imaginable that day, the reality of this moment crushed all of his fantasies and made them look like pathetically mediocre daydreams. And it was all because of Selina, and those big, indescribably deep brown eyes of hers.

This woman who had once been so guarded, so unreadable and maddening and impossible - and still was at times - now looked up at him with completely open, honest eyes. He didn't have to search for answers within them, because they were all on the surface, laying bare for him to see. And the thing that got him the most, the thing that made him come undone himself, was the truth of how happy she truly was in this moment. She may have accepted his proposal for his sake, suffered with the planning of the wedding for his sake, done all of it for him, but in turn, it had made her just as happy as it made him.

"You may... excuse me," the minister hiccuped. "You may kiss your bride."

The last word hadn't fully left the minister's mouth when Bruce's arms wound around Selina - his wife, his thought a bit giddily - and pulled her close to him. He didn't give her the expected small, sweet kiss, nor a cringe-worthy tongue-fest that left everyone squirming in their seats. Instead, he kissed her softly and perfectly, firm enough to make her lose her breath and gentle enough to make her head spin. Halfway through, he decided that it wasn't enough.

Whether it was cliched or not, he didn't care. Selina could call him a cheeseball until his dying day for this, and he'd be fine with that. He took her fully in his arms and dipped her down for a romantic, dramatic finish to their first kiss as a married couple. He felt her chest against his purr with a chuckle, and his lips smiled against hers in response, just before he pulled her back up.

Selina's eyes opened and they stared at each other, smiling like complete idiots, as Molly began crying like a baby. Leslie was bawling just as fervently, and Alfred wasn't immune either. If one had looked closely, they may have even spotted a tear trying to escape Lucius' eye as well.

Bruce kissed her one last time before they'd have to leave the altar and head down the aisle. His kiss was as soft and adoring as his tone was when he pulled away, his forehead against hers as he held her face in his hands and whispered, "I love you."

He couldn't remember the last time they'd said those words to one another. It was rarely necessary, and besides, when overused, the words failed to mean anything.

But right now, those words meant everything in the world.

She smiled and replied, "You'd better, 'cause you're never getting rid of me now." She kissed him one more time. "And I love you too."

**A/N: thank you guys for all of your reviews and support, you're all rockstars! :D I hope this chapter lived up to the build-up, I've never written a wedding before, ever, so it was a new, highly fluffy experience :) my thanks to midnightwings96 as well, as usual, for being perpetually awesome :D hope you guys like it :) the reception and wedding night's up next, then honeymoon :) fun stuff :D **


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: note up here today :) so, this took me a million years to write and it is ridiculously long, I know lol, but I figure no one will mind, since this is a pretty late update (for me). Good news is most of the next chapter is already done, so that should also be coming around soon. :) Thank you, all of you, for your support and reviews, and my usual thanks to midnightwings96 as wrll :)On a more serious note, without getting on my soapbox and annoying everyone, I figure that since I'm lucky enough to have a sizable audience here, I'd ask and encourage a everyone to take a look at what's going on in Istanbul and help make others aware of it too. It's not widely covered in the Western news but, I have two friends over there basically in the middle of it and the situation itself doesn't really seem to be getting better. I'd post links but we all know I can't here, lol, so I just ask those of you who feel compelled to to check it out and show support for the citizens fighting for change. Aaaand getting off my soapbox now. :D **

**P.S Oh! And the lyrics used in this chapter are from "All I Want is You" by U2, which as you know, I borrowed the title of this fic from :) couldn't help myself :)**

As the small but significant group of people in attendance cheered and smiled as the happy, newly married couple turned and began their journey back down the aisle, Alfred clapped with them, at a loss with his own emotions.

Like a parent, when he looked at Bruce, he didn't always see a battle-scarred man who'd overcome immeasurable odds to just be alive today. A part of him would always see a child, an infant, tiny and dependent, innocent, whole, loved and untouched. He'd never forget the sounds of Bruce's first cries, never forget the toddler that he became, nor the small boy who'd later see his world shattered with a few pieces of lead.

Even when Alfred had believed fully in Batman, when Bruce was in his prime and still young, still at the beginning of his journey, there were always nagging worries in the back of Alfred's mind that Bruce wouldn't make it home one night. That Bruce wouldn't make it to 31. Then, after those dark, self-exiled years that followed, he worried that Bruce wouldn't see 40. How could a man so lost in the world and within himself, so ridden with guilt and so broken with the loss of everything that gave him a reason and a purpose in life, carry on? How much could one weary, defeated man take?

He thought he'd found the answer to that question the day he stood weeping in front of a simple stone grave on the outer grounds of Wayne Manor. Seeing Bruce alive, happy, and no longer alone, in Florence a few months later turned his world on it's head all over again.

But now here Bruce was, a few years later, holding the hand of a woman he'd just pledged his life and love to, a woman who had given him two babies and a world of happiness that Alfred had wanted for Bruce since he first laid eyes upon him as an infant those many years ago. Bruce was still battle-scarred, still carried the ghosts and shadows of past lives that he'd never fully escape, and that would never change; but, now Alfred could see as plain as the blue sky overhead, eclipsing the storm on the horizon, that Bruce had finally, at last, risen above it all.

Helena was in his lap, Thomas in Leslie's, and when the little girl saw everyone around her clapping, she quickly followed suit and started smacking her little hands together and giggling. Bruce looked at her and smiled as he and Selina walked, and Alfred could truly say that he'd never seen the younger man so happy before. This was all Alfred had ever wanted for him - a wife, kids, family. Something to keep him grounded when the rest got to be too much, keeping him from letting it all take him under.

Bruce had told him once, after they'd all come to the island and settled down, that he had been able to walk away from Gotham because he'd finally reached the point where he truly felt that he'd fulfilled his parents' legacy. And now, Alfred felt something similar taking place within himself. Where he'd once felt as if he'd failed Thomas and Martha, now he felt nothing but pride for their son, and something even better - peace. The sort that could only come with a promise fulfilled.

When the couple was out of sight, Alfred turned to Leslie, who was dabbing her eyes with a tissue while cradling Thomas, and smiled lightly as she laughed softly at herself for crying so freely. He looked down at Thomas, then Helena, and then back to Leslie, and it all came together like puzzle pieces in his mind. In all of his years wishing and hoping for Bruce to gain a family and have what he'd always wanted and deserved, somehow his prayers had been answered, and doubly so, because Alfred had gained a family as well.

It was a moment of inspiration and great emotion that caused Alfred to do what he did next. With one very large chapter of his life having just ended with Bruce's wedding, it was only right to begin another.

And he saw no reason why he couldn't have what Bruce had just gained moments earlier.

"Darling?" Leslie asked, still sniffing back tears as she looked curiously at her partner.

"I have an idea," he said, "and you may think I'm crazy for it."

"You're making me nervous," she admitted with a smile. "Just tell me."

Molly walked by just in time to hear Alfred say softly, "Be my wife. Today."

Leslie's mouth dropped open nearly as widely as Molly's did. The younger woman stopped in her tracks and backed up a few steps, staring with a big smile as Leslie brought a hand to her mouth and asked, "Are - are you serious?"

"I'm very serious," Alfred smiled.

"Today?" Leslie repeated.

"Everyone's here, we're already dressed up," he pointed out. "I'm sure the minister won't take a lot of convincing. And frankly, I'm not getting any younger. Waiting is a younger man's game. So... what do you say?"

Molly watched with wide, anticipating eyes as Leslie dropped her hand to cover her heart. It didn't take long at all for the doctor to give her answer. "I say yes."

Molly then squealed, clapped, and bounced on her heels as she screeched, "Double wedding!"

* * *

The day's second, very impromptu wedding happened less than half an hour later. Leslie fetched the only white dress she owned from her house while Molly ran around, helping set everything back up and trying to keep the minister coherent. When the last minute preparations were done, Molly found herself sitting in the front row with the kids, smiling giddily as Bruce and Selina stood with the new bride and groom. Alfred and Leslie held hands and exchanged the same vows as Bruce and Selina, and it was quite the sight - one bride and groom standing next to another bride and another groom, related to neither by blood but the strongest familial relationship that both Alfred and Leslie had.

When Alfred said "I do", Bruce shared a look with Selina that told her how special all of this really was for him. The day had already been amazing, a gift he'd never take for granted, and this was the proverbial icing on the cake. For all the times that Alfred expressed to Bruce how much he only wished for him to find happiness, it was also all Bruce had ever wanted for his father figure and most loyal companion.

Selina smiled back at Bruce, the weight of her new wedding band on her left ring finger feeling oddly right as she watched Alfred kiss his bride. The minister muttered something afterwards to them about making sure they got a marriage license within the next 24 hours, but really, the legalities of it were irrelevant. It was as valid a wedding as any, with or without the necessary papers, and as those in attendance clapped once more for the second couple of the day and they walked out into the sand, Bruce took Selina's hand as they turned to follow them.

Selina nudged Bruce lightly with her shoulder as she looked up at him. "You've got tears in your eyes. Crybaby."

He glanced down at her and gave her hand a light squeeze. "I'm happy," he said simply.

She didn't have to reply that she was as well for him to know. She simply smiled and planted a small kiss to his jaw before untangling her hand with his, needing a word with Molly before they all headed off to the reception.

* * *

"Molly," Selina said quietly, tapping her matron of honor's shoulder as she talked rapidly into her cell phone.

"Yeah but just make sure it's all ready in fifteen minutes," Molly said before hanging up and smiling as she turned to her friend. "Sorry, that was the reception people. They're still not done decorating so I was making sure they knew we were coming. Can you believe today turned into a double wedding?!"

"No, I can't," Selina smiled. "It's like your dream come true."

"Yes it is!" Molly squeaked. "And those two are so old and cute. They're not, like, grumpy and stuffy old people - they're so cute and awesome you just want to, just... squeeze them to death. Anyway. What did you need?"

"There's a locked suitcase in the room Blake's staying in. I need that to go to the reception hall."

"Okay," Molly nodded. "What's in it?"

"... Something," Selina said evasively.

Molly narrowed her eyes and said, "I know that look - tell me what's in it."

Selina smiled and gave a light shrug. "... Supplies."

"I put your wedding together single-handedly, Selina, so I think I deserve to know a few details, don't you?"

Selina rolled her eyes and grabbed Molly's elbow, pulling her forwards and whispering a few words in her ear. Molly's eyes widened then as Selina pulled away, and her mouth dropped open a bit as she said, "That's not even fair. I hate you so much."

Selina grinned. "So, make sure the suitcase gets there."

Molly sighed and walked off, mumbling under her breath as Selina turned and looked at the beachfront scene before her; Lucius standing with Alfred and Leslie, the couple looking happy and relaxed after their spur of the moment vows; Bruce with Helena on his shoulders, talking with Gordon, who was congratulating him, while Blake chatted with Christian and looked nervously over towards Raven every two minutes but appeared far too fearful to actually go speak to her; Eric, who'd gotten hold of Thomas at some point, playing with the child while still chatting Raven up, and then there was Anita, who was stopping Kylie from clobbering Aidan, the toddler punching bag.

Now came the fun part.

* * *

After taking a plethora of photos and then finally getting to the mainland, Bruce and Selina piled into the backseat of a car that was waiting for them with a driver and two carseats - Molly really had planned everything - and both Thomas and Helena instantly fell asleep as the car began heading to the venue. With the kids asleep and the driver politely silent, Selina looked up when she felt fingers brushing her wedding rings. Bruce's gaze met hers at the same time, and in the quiet intimacy of the moment, neither one of them could really think of any words to say. So Bruce did what he wanted, which was to pull her close and kiss her like he planned to spend a large portion of the next week doing.

His right hand laced with her left, his lips were soft and sweet against hers, and his left hand held her tight against his chest. He pulled away only briefly to catch his breath and look down at her lips before capturing them again, deeper, harder, and after a moment, she gently pushed him back a few inches.

"Save it for tonight, honey," she said quietly, brushing his hair back with her fingers. His eyes swept down over her, dark and dilated and focused entirely upon her, and Selina almost could have blushed under his gaze.

One of his fingertips grazed an earring hanging from her lobe. "Like these?"

"As if you'd have to ask," she grinned back. "Very clever, too, the subtext."

"What subtext?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Doesn't matter," she shrugged. "So... you've finally gotten what you wanted."

He smiled at that, tracing her cheek with his finger. "So have you. Even if it took you longer to admit."

"How's it feel," she asked, "knowing that now you're stuck with me forever?"

"I think it's written on my face," Bruce said softly.

It was. She opened her mouth to reply, but he quickly added, "It's on yours, too."

Again she tried to answer, but this time he silenced her with a kiss that became many more. They didn't stop until they felt the car come to a full halt, and when Selina looked out of the windows, she saw that they'd arrived at the reception. Then she glanced down at Bruce's hand low on her hip, his grip tense, and felt his other hand on her back, most of it bare and displayed above the lace of her backless gown, and again she had to look up at him and say, "Later."

"You doubt my self control?" he asked, his eyes skimming over the low neckline of her dress.

"Only with me," she grinned as the driver came around and opened her door.

The reception was being held at a moderately-sized hall inside of a resort on the east side of Nassau. It was down on the first floor, and neither Bruce nor Selina knew anything of what they were about to walk into. Molly had thrown it all together so quickly and had so little to work with, other than the flavor of the cake she'd had made for them, it was all going to be a surprise.

Molly met them in the resort's lobby, each of them carrying a still-sleeping child, and she hurriedly took both children in her arms - motherhood gave one quite impressive physical abilities - and then darted off to prepare the hall for their arrival.

"Wait outside until I come and get you!" Molly yelled over her shoulder before disappearing behind two double doors a some yards in front of them. Bruce chuckled and Selina adjusted her dress, then ran her hand over her chignon as Bruce watched.

"The dress is perfect," he said, and she glanced back to him when she heard his words. He smiled. "It's beautiful."

"Glad you think so," she grinned. "I know how you like me in lace."

"I do," he admitted. "But I like you out of it the most."

Selina was all ready with a retort when Molly's blonde head poked through the doors. "Okay! The DJ's announcing you guys!"

Bruce smiled at Selina and took her hand, both of them still adjusting to the traditions and process of weddings. It seemed maybe a little odd to make a fuss over an introduction when there were so few people awaiting them in the hall, but Molly had worked hard to give them a "proper" wedding, and any potential oddness was irrelevant.

As they stepped into the room, Bruce quietly asked Selina, "What happens first, again?"

"I think the first... dance." Selina's words faltered and her mouth dropped open when the room came into her full view. It was dark, lit by small, warm lights hanging from the ceiling and candles on the tables. Everything was swathed in dark colors, black and deep, bleeding red, some very dark purple here and there as well. The few but large tables were covered in black cloth and topped with the candles and identical flowers to the ones in Selina's bouquet, and the chairs covered and tied with red silk. Their cake was off in the corner of the room, four tiers - Selina's idea, one tier each to represent herself, Bruce, and their children - and was a work of elegance; smooth white frosting, full of intricate detail, including edible red roses and purple lilies placed beautiful throughout it. The idea of eating it and disturbing its beauty seemed almost offensive.

The ceremony had been a beachy, laid-back but elegant sort of affair, but this was elegance of the pure, unapologetic kind. It was also so perfectly them, small and intimate, dark and beautiful. Selina's eyes flickered first to Molly, holding a sleeping Thomas while Helena sat half-awake at Alfred's table with Leslie, and she gave the girl a smile so genuinely happy that it made Molly feel as if all of the misery of planning this with so little time had definitely been worth it.

The couple took a few moments to walk the room, take it all in, say a few words to their guests and laugh inwardly at Blake, who was still a coward and sitting as far away from Raven as he could. But that came to an end when Molly nudged them and told them it was time for them to dance.

"I never picked a song for us to dance to," Selina recalled as Bruce took her hand and walked her to the dance floor.

"I know," he replied. "I did."

The first strains of a song started playing then, just as he stopped and she stepped in front of him. Soft guitars began a song that she didn't recognize. He pulled her close to him, all eyes upon them as they began their first dance as a husband and wife, and smiled down at her as she asked, "You picked this? Who is it?"

"Just listen," he replied, moving her slowly as the lyrics started wafting past her ears.

The hired photographer and his assistant snapped photos and took video, as they had all day, as Selina danced softly with Bruce and listened.

_You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold... you say you want your story to remain untold... but all the promises we make, from the cradle to the grave... when all I want is you._

It wasn't a cheesy, typical wedding song, and Selina was grateful for that. The song was soft enough to be appropriate and good enough to make her look up and quirk her lips in a smile to him. "I think I like it."

_You say you'll give me a highway with no one on it, treasure just to look upon it... all the riches in the night._

He brushed his lips against her ear as they swayed, then whispered into it, "I'm glad... Mrs. Wayne."

_You say you'll give me eyes in the moon of blindness_...

She smirked and looked up into his eyes again, those happy, content hazel orbs that she could - and would - look into forever, and replied, "I don't think I ever told you if I was going to take your name or not."

He raised a brow to her. "I didn't think there was a debate to be had there."

_A river in a time of dryness_...

"You really think I'm the kind of girl to just take a man's name?" she asked pointedly, enjoying the flash of something, maybe surprise or annoyance, in Bruce's eyes. She'd made her decision long ago, but that was no reason to miss a chance to watch him squirm.

"No, I suppose not," he replied. "If you don't want to, I understand. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume..."

_A harbor in the tempest_

She smiled at those lyrics, recalling a time not too long ago when they'd been holed up in their house as a storm raged both inside and outside, figuratively and literally. His words faltered when she smiled, and he looked on in slight confusion as her brain tried to form words.

There was so much that she wanted to say, and still even now, after all this time, words didn't come easy. Maybe they never would - maybe it was just her nature. She wanted to tell him that there was never a question in her mind whether she'd take his name, because for her, it was not a loss of identity to do so, nor any other thing that would have stopped her from dropping her father's name. The truth was, Selina Kyle was a different woman than the one currently dancing at her wedding reception, though not in personality or nature or ability. Those things were and would always be the same. Marriage, children, none of it could change who Selina was.

The difference, Selina thought, was very simple and irrefutable. Selina Kyle was a woman who grew up too soon and did what she had to do to survive when she hit the streets, bleeding and lost, at the age of thirteen. She did what she had to, and with the exception of what she did to Bruce, she had no regrets about any of it. So what was so different now?

She no longer did what she had to do. She now did what she wanted to. And she wanted to shed her father's name, shed the man who gave her a thick scar on her scalp that she hid with her hair, and in turn take on the name of the man who had been her downfall and redemption all in one. The man that she'd handed over to be broken and tortured by a monster, only to give her a new start and a new life that she didn't think she deserved, now stood before her as her husband and the father of her children. The odds of it were so minute, and so laughable, and yet, here they were. Despite it all... here they were.

"Relax," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as they continued to dance. "Of course I'm taking your name."

His expression visibly lightened, and she couldn't help but shake her head at him. For all of their differences - and there were quite a few, and there always would be - there were more similarities, and sometimes looking at him was like looking in a mirror. Those shadows behind his eyes that he couldn't always outrun were also in her own eyes. Nightmares weren't common for either of them anymore but, every so often, they'd come. Scars on their bodies told stories they'd rather forget. Sometimes life was too much, and other times it wasn't enough. He could be high and she could be low. At times they were lucky enough to meet in the middle, and other times they suffered together and then soared together.

She wasn't always good for him. She could be mean and not understand why, and sometimes he'd say something that would bring back waves of guilt that she did her best to repress. They'd hurt each other a lot, perhaps more than anyone else ever had, because they loved each other more than they'd ever loved anyone, and that made every cut bleed deeper. They'd seen one another that their worst - Bruce holding a gun to a man's head, shaking and starting to pull the trigger, and Selina, depressed, anxious and lost, one step away from abandoning her family to regain the freedom of her old life - and they'd also brought each other to their best.

"You sure?" Bruce asked, watching as Selina's eyes shone with just a little bit of extra moisture - not enough to form tears, but enough to let him know that she was truly feeling this moment. He wished he could trip inside her head and read those guarded thoughts of hers.

She nodded. He asked softly, "What are you thinking right now?"

"That I don't ever want to look back again," she said. "Don't let me, if I ever start to."

He looked into her eyes, a little surprised by her words, neither of them really hearing the song anymore as it picked up into a crescendo. "We both have a tendency to do that."

"So then I won't let you if you don't let me," Selina replied, a light fierceness in her tone and her eyes. Bruce nodded, and she allowed her mind to entertain a radical notion - the idea of finally abandoning the guilt she'd been carrying around for nearly four years now. But if she was serious, and if she really was done looking back, wasn't forgiving herself an unavoidable step?

Bruce had forgiven her before he'd even left the pit she'd allowed him to be tossed into, but she had clung to her guilt and her grudge against her own self during all of the time that had elapsed since then. She'd resigned herself to carrying it to her grave, and maybe some of it would follow her there no matter what, but... if she really was going to take Bruce's name, and allow him to have her take her place in his family's history, maybe the time had finally come to leave it all behind. And maybe now, after having two children and overcoming what had been one of the most horrible times in her life only a few short months ago, perhaps she had grown enough to finally be capable of leaving that guilt behind.

Their song was still playing, and they were still dancing when Bruce leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Once upon a time, she thought, and not long ago at all, she would have kept her father's name simply because she wouldn't have thought she was worthy of Bruce's name. But those days were long gone, and she wouldn't shed a tear for them.

She _was_ worthy. She was everything she'd always wanted to be, and she'd been this person all along. All she'd ever needed was the chance, and the freedom, to be her.

* * *

The next dance went to Alfred and Leslie, and Bruce and Selina took at seat at their head table as the older couple enjoyed their first married dance. The kids joined them at the table, and the family enjoyed a quiet moment or two as their fellow, older newlyweds danced to a song the DJ had improvised with. It was the last quiet moment to be had for the rest of the evening.

Due to the timing of the wedding, the usual sequence of eating and then dancing was reversed. When Alfred and Leslie's dance concluded, the general playlist began, and Selina was somehow not surprised to see Eric leading the way to the dance floor with Raven in tow.

"Does he just try to piss off as many people as possible wherever he goes?" Bruce inquired as Helena started wiggling on his lap, wanting to dance herself.

"Basically," Selina shrugged, getting to her feet and motioning for him to come with her. "Come on. Your wife and daughter want to dance."

Bruce grinned at that, the thrill he felt at that terminology not disappointing in the least as he got up to follow her. Meanwhile, as Blake sat with Alfred and Leslie and looked on in horror, Lucius quietly slid in on the seat next to him and said, "Feeling cowardly today, are we?"

Blake glanced at his ex's uncle and didn't say anything. Fox then looked towards the dance floor and said, "This is the closest to a blessing you'll ever get from me. Now's your chance to try and get her back. I suggest you take it."

Blake then picked up the untouched glass of champagne sitting in front of him, downed it in one gulp, and got up. Lucius then leaned back in his seat to watch events unfold later as Alfred commented, "Well, this should be fun."

Blake made his way to the floor the same time that Bruce and Selina did. Molly and Christian were there too, and Blake put on his bravest face as he stepped up to Raven and Eric.

He cleared his throat and tapped on Raven's shoulder. They stopped and both looked at Blake, and Eric quickly let go of the woman and smiled. "She's all yours," he said before nodding at Raven. "It's been a pleasure meeting you."

She nodded wordlessly, then turned cautious brown eyes on Blake as he looked her over before he dared to close the space between them. She was wearing a silver dress that stopped above the knee, the neckline sweeping over her slim shoulders that were covered by her loose, long, black curls. He'd been sneaking glances at her all day, but seeing her up close - so close and still so far away - was all he needed to finally get over it and step forward, taking her in his arms to dance.

"I see you finally worked up the courage to come within ten feet of me," she replied tightly, her hands on his shoulders, looking around them anywhere she could, anywhere but in his eyes.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here," Blake replied. A glance to the side showed Bruce gamely spinning Helena around and not yet noticing that Eric had taken to dancing with Selina.

"Well, you've succeeded in making this as awkward as possible," she said, still looking all around them to keep from looking at him.

"I know," he admitted. "There's just a lot I'd like to say, and normally that wouldn't be a problem for me, but with you... I turn into a complete idiot."

"I've noticed," she muttered.

He sighed to himself. Fox was right, and this really was his chance to finally do something, say something, stop feeling sorry for himself and take action. "Why did you come here?"

She didn't bat an eye as she evenly replied, "I was invited."

"But why did you really come here?"

Raven pursed her lips and continued to stare off. Blake observed her posture - stiff and tense - and noted the similar set of her fingers on his shoulders. Deciding to make a slightly bold mood, he reached for her chin and gently guided her face towards his. Her dark eyes then finally met his, and he murmured softly, "Raven..."

She closed her eyes then and shook her head. "Don't."

"Don't what? Don't say your name?"

"Yes," she replied, again averting her eyes. "Just don't. Don't do what I know you're trying to do."

Blake clenched his jaw and followed her gaze. She was now staring at Alfred and Leslie, who had come back to the floor and were now having a grand time dancing with the others, and Blake realized that he and Raven were dancing entirely out of rhythm. He also realized they were the only miserable people in the room.

He took her hand and dragged her off, ignoring her protests. Meanwhile, Selina laughed as Eric danced exuberantly and like an idiot all around her.

"Bruce is gonna kill you!" she exclaimed when he ended up behind her, with his hands on her waist, grinding ever so slightly against her.

"He's occupied!" Eric half-shouted back. "Look, Molly grabbed him. And her husband's got your daughter on his shoulders."

Selina looked up, and sure enough, Molly had stolen a dance with Bruce. Eric leaned in, almost close enough to brush his lips against Selina's ear, and he said, "Careful, she might try to get her kiss."

Selina slapped his face away and turned around to face him, and he quickly pulled her right back to him. "You know what? Right now I'm so happy I don't even think I'd care."

Eric raised his brows but laughed as he spun the bride around, then pulled her back. "I'm happy to hear that. You're glowing! The quintessential blushing bride. Who'd have thought it?"

"Not me!" Selina admitted with a laugh. "By the way, I hope you aren't trying to get in Raven's pants."

"Who's that?" Eric asked, confusion suddenly etched on his face.

"The girl you've been following around all day," Selina replied, eyes widened as if to say _duh_. "She's Blake's girlfriend. They're always breaking up, but... just leave her alone, all right?"

"Looking out for the best man," Eric grinned. "How very sweet of you, Selina."

She smacked his arm, and a mere second later, Eric was all but thrown backwards and replaced by Bruce, wearing a mildly annoyed expression as he took Selina into his arms. "Next time, I'm killing him. Okay?"

"Sure," Selina rolled her eyes, though a smile crept up on her lips. She glanced over Bruce's shoulder and saw Eric shrug it off, then head Anita's way. Oh Lord, Selina thought before Molly rushed by and brushed Selina's shoulder.

"I forgot to do that thing you asked," Molly said, her eyes bright and slightly dazed. "So I'm gonna do it now. K?"

"Okay," Selina replied before watching the girl rush away. She then looked up at Bruce and asked, "Did she take some speed?"

Bruce shrugged. "I thanked her for putting all of this together and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She... squeaked. And said something I couldn't understand and then ran off."

Selina snorted. "She's awesome."

Bruce smiled a response, then looked around before asking, "Where's Blake?"

Blake was, unbeknownst to anyone else, down a hallway behind the DJ's stage with Raven. The hallway led outside to a row of rooms, and Blake hurried himself and Raven into the first open door that he could find. It appeared to be a sitting room or dressing room of some kind, equipped with two couches and a coffee table, and then on the other side, lit up mirrors and sinks.

Whatever, he thought before closing the door and turning to a mildly furious looking Raven.

"What the hell?!" she demanded.

"I can't do this anymore," he replied, hands on his hips as he blocked the door. "It's stupid. I'm stupid. It's all stupid."

"What are you talking about?" she squinted.

"You came here for a reason," he said, eyes boring into hers. "You barely know Bruce or Selina. You didn't come for them."

She shrugged. "Maybe I wanted the vacation."

"Why can't you just admit it's killing you as much as it's killing me?"

Raven turned away from him then, shaking her head as she mumbled, "I'm not doing this."

Blake watched her for a moment, caught her reflection in the mirrors on the opposite side of the room, and in it saw the pain etched on her face.

Enough was enough.

When she turned around and opened her mouth to demand that he step aside and allow her to leave, she gasped a little instead when she found herself nearly nose to nose with him. Her gaze met his and she saw a little bit of Nightwing in his stare and his body language, that self-assurance and cockiness that he had no choice but to exude as a still-learning crimefighter. It rendered her frozen just long enough for him to take her by surprise and press a furious kiss to her lips.

She responded by jerking her head away and slapping him across his face. He flinched but kissed her again, cupping the back of her head as he did. Her hands were at his chest, pushing him away, but her lips moved against his, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Her hands moved to his jacket lapels and clenched them in her fists, and when she felt him start to move her back towards the couches, she slammed on the brakes.

"Robin," she gasped, pulling away as much as his hard grip on her would allow, "I -"

"Say that again," he breathed, his voice matching the darkness of his eyes as his fingers ran through her hair. His cheek still stung from where she'd hit him, but the rest of him felt amazing at the moment.

She forgot what she was going to say. Something about waiting, about talking rationally, about thinking before acting... but hadn't that been all she'd been doing for months now? And where had that gotten her?

"Robin," she repeated softly. She was the only one in the world that he'd let get away with calling him that, and she'd never know how much he had missed it.

He kissed her again, and she kissed back with abandon.

* * *

"What's Molly doing?" Bruce asked, seeing Molly lug some huge black piece of luggage behind the DJ's area and then disappear.

"Nothing," Selina shrugged nonchalantly, their dancing coming to an end as the song changed. It was something a tad bit slower, and just as Bruce was about to press for a real answer, Alfred appeared and gently pushed him out of the way.

"I'd say a dance with the bride is in order," Alfred smiled, dismissing Bruce with a nod, and Bruce gave them both a smile before leaving them. He then turned to Selina and began a fatherly dance with her as he said cheerfully, "Well, then, Miss Kyle... or should I say Mrs. Wayne."

"Let's go with Selina," she smiled.

"Selina, then," he replied. "Are you as happy as you look?"

She shook her head. "No. More."

He smiled. "Good."

"Didn't think today would turn into a double wedding," Selina grinned. "Smooth, Alfred. Very smooth."

"I'm not without my moments of brilliance," Alfred replied. "And I must say, considering the way today started, I'm very relieved that it's gone this smoothly."

Selina smiled, remembering Bruce's previous epic night of drinking,and said, "We always seem to pull it together when it counts."

"Indeed." Alfred smiled down at Selina and said, "I suppose it goes without saying that this day is a day that I have wanted for Bruce for longer than I can stand to remember. But I want to say it anyway. Because I didn't think it would happen, but it did. And I have you to thank. So thank you."

Selina smiled and blinked, "You'd better stop before I cry. Molly'll have my head if I smear my mascara."

Alfred chuckled, but his tone remained serious. "You know, I've always felt this... weight on my shoulders. When two parents pass away and leave you to raise their only child, and that child grows up to become a man who listens to no one and has a god complex and a death wish... it gets to be quite the burden."

Selina nodded, listening intently as he went on. "But since you came along... that burden's slowly lifted. To see him happy, with a woman who understands him and truly knows him, not to mention the two little ones... you have no idea, Selina. You just have no idea. But today is the first day that I've felt that weight leave my shoulders completely."

Suddenly, Selina understood. She understood why today had been an impromptu double wedding, why Alfred had made the decision as spontaneously as he had. One very long chapter had closed and another had finally opened for the former butler.

"And again," he said, "I have you to thank for that."

Despite her best efforts, the moisture pooling in Selina's eyes couldn't hold themselves back any longer. _Dammit_.

Bruce had taken to the outer edge of the dance floor, watching as his new wife and father figure danced, occasionally smiling down at his daughter as she ran circles around his legs over and over, until Fox appeared at his side.

Lucius gave Bruce a slight smile as he lightly shook his head at him. "What?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce Wayne, married with children," Lucius grinned. "Not to mention alive. What would the tabloids have to say about this?"

"Hopefully I'll never have to find out," Bruce replied. "Thanks for coming, by the way."

"Wouldn't have missed it for anything, Bruce," Lucius replied. "And I mean that."

Bruce smiled warmly at him and then turned his eyes back to Alfred and Selina. "Looks like you're next, Lucius."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Next for what, exactly?"

Bruce shrugged. "Me and Alfred are both married now. Might be your turn."

Lucius scoffed and straightened his suit jacket. "I am married, Mr. Wayne. Married to my job. At your company."

"Doesn't count," Bruce grinned. "And it's not my company."

"Maybe not," Lucius shrugged slightly. He then looked down to Helena, peeking up at him from behind Bruce's legs, and he replied, "But it might be _her_ company someday." He gestured to Thomas, being passed from Leslie to Gordon across the room, and added, "Or his." When Bruce's expression remained unreadable, Lucius asked, "Have you really not given any thought to this?"

"I..."

Bruce's words were cut off by Molly suddenly barreling between them from behind, nearly knocking down Helena in the process. She quickly turned and apologized, displaying her wide blue eyes and bright red face, and when she looked up at Lucius, her face reddened even more, and she then quickly scampered off.

Both men watched her run off with highly confused expressions. "She's a strange one, isn't she?" Fox asked.

"Sometimes," Bruce shrugged.

"Where's my niece and your best man?" Lucius asked, suddenly realizing that he hadn't seen either one of them for a good twenty minutes.

As Bruce shrugged in ignorance, Molly stopped at Selina's side and glanced at Alfred before saying in a small voice, "I did the thing you wanted me to do. But it's in a different room than we talked about, because Blake and Raven are having sex in the one I was going to put it in. And I saw it. And I can't unsee it. Hi Alfred."

Molly then walked away, and Selina barely suppressed the laugh trying to escape from her lungs. Alfred took a breath and crackled, "Weddings are never boring, are they?"

* * *

Blake emerged first, looking nonchalant and calm as he slipped back into the small crowd and acted as if he'd never left - that is, until Molly glanced at him and they both quickly looked away. Molly simply didn't know him well enough to grin and taunt him about it like she would have to Bruce and Selina, and Blake wasn't used to hooking up at weddings in general. But, he relaxed some when Raven came back five or so minutes later, perfectly put back together and far smoother about it all than he was. She sat down at her table and sipped champagne while Selina appeared in front of Blake, wearing a knowing, amused look.

"My wedding," Selina said, tilting her head. "Really?"

Blake's discomfort quickly disappeared as he gave the bride an incredulous look. "Okay, you know what - you don't have the right to give me crap about anything. Do I have to remind you of how thin the walls in my old apartment were? Or how thin the ones in your house are, and how for some reason you guys always put me in the room directly above yours?"

Selina half-scoffed, half-laughed. "Whatever. Just means whenever you get married, there'll be payback."

Selina then walked off, and Blake continued to wonder how that was fair, considering the significant amount of torture he'd suffered in Bruce and Selina's proximity, but he quickly shook it off and went in search of more champagne. Meanwhile, the wedding got back on track in the form of the usual rituals, starting with the cake cutting.

It was all very low-key and sweet, no smashing of faces with the cake, and the most eye-catching thing occurred when the other wedding staples happened a bit later. Selina sat on a chair, leaning her elbow on top of the backrest as Bruce knelt down in front of her, both of them ignoring the photographer flitting about as she extended her left leg towards him. She gave him a daring look, recalling the way Christian had removed Molly's garter at their wedding - by diving headfirst into the skirt of her huge, fluffy ball gown and retrieving it with his teeth, to quite the fanfare - and she only had to wonder for a moment if Bruce would match Christian's performance. First he shook a few stray hairs out of his face, and then he lifted up her dress to her knee before his head disappeared under it. Selina, and everyone else in the room, laughed, but her chuckle quickly became a small squeak that she had to suppress when she felt hot breath on her leg just above her knee, then her inner thigh, just before lips pressed against her skin in a brief but promising kiss. Then there was the soft scraping of teeth, and the feel of the scrap of fabric in question being dragged down her leg.

Bruce emerged with the garter between his teeth, and after he plucked it out, he grinned at Selina before flinging it over his shoulder like a slingshot. Naturally, it landed on the one man who wasn't reaching out to catch it.

The lacy, white and pale blue garter hit Blake squarely in the face while he was drinking mid-sip, and reflexively he caught it before it fell from his face to the floor. Then came more laughs and clapping, and Blake rolled eyes but laughed along, holding it up and faux-bowing as Bruce helped Selina up from the chair.

After that came the bouquet-toss, which considering the fact that there were only two single women in attendance - Anita and Raven - it could have been a rather boring event. But, they improvised by bringing Kylie and Helena in on the fun, and when Selina threw her bouquet over her shoulder, it bounced first from Anita's hands, then hit the middle of Raven's palm before falling entirely. Helena jumped up and grabbed at the bouquet, and succeeded in grasping it in her little fists. It earned a collective "awwww" from everyone, and when Kylie tried to snatch the flowers from Helena, Helena exclaimed "No, mine!" and quickly ran off.

All that remained, then, was to finally eat the catered dinner. Ironically, it had been the part that Selina had been looking forward to the most.

As everyone settled down at the tables to eat, Selina got comfortable next to Bruce, feeding Helena on the seat next to hers a forkful of roasted vegetables as she asked, "So... when do I get to find out where you're taking me on the honeymoon?"

"When we get there," Bruce replied, giving her a sideways smirk.

"Oh, come on with the secrecy," Selina bemoaned. "I mean, really."

Bruce shrugged. "You're keeping whatever you've got planned tonight to yourself, so I don't see why I shouldn't also keep my plans to myself."

That was fair enough, really, she supposed. Conversation stayed light and pleasant throughout the remainder of the dinner, and it wasn't until Bruce had eaten the last bite from his plate that Selina decided that it was time to get down to business.

Helena was with Kylie, trying to pull off a tablecloth and being thwarted by Molly, and Thomas had barely left Leslie's arms all night. Starting tonight, for the next five days, the kids would be shuffled between Alfred & Leslie and Molly & Christian. It would be the longest either Bruce or Selina had been away from their babies, and they were nervous and reluctant to go with it at first, but Alfred and Molly had both insisted and not given them a choice in the matter. Selina had since warmed up to the idea, and she was quite ready for the honeymoon to begin.

Slowly she leaned herself against her groom, bringing her hand to the ends of his hair at the back of his head as she nuzzled his neck. His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, and Selina let her lips brush his ear as her free hand gently dropped a key into his jacket pocket.

"Down the hallway, second door on the left," she murmured, then pulled away and met Bruce's curious gaze as she added, "Five minutes."

He then watched her gracefully get up and go, wondering if she was actually serious. But it was a stupid thing to wonder, because of course she was serious, he thought as she stopped to quietly kiss her children goodbye. He gleamed from that that she must intend for this to be their final exit from the wedding, forgoing the usual rice-throwing or sparkler-holding type of departure. But what exactly did a rendezvous in a secluded room have to do with this sort of exit?

He waited for the allotted five minutes, then got up and made his way through the room. He gave his kids hugs and kisses as Selina had, and managed to leave without anyone asking where he was going... though Molly did appear to be rather "in the know" by the way she was struggling not to look at him.

He slipped out of the others' sights and down the hallway, quickly spotting the second door on the left. He retrieved the key she'd given him but then noticed that the door had no lock, so, key still in hand, he grasped the knob and turned, pushing the door open.

He found the room empty and oddly breezy. It appeared to be a storage room of some kind, though at the moment it was empty save for a locked suitcase sitting in the middle of the floor. Puzzled, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, recognizing the suitcase as the one he'd seen Molly lugging earlier. There was also a single window open on the opposite side of the room, leading to a fire escape.

He knelt down in front of the suitcase and placed the key into the lock that sat between the latches on the front panel of it. With a quick turn, he heard several clicks, and then it popped open. He lifted up the top and was distinctly stunned and not stunned at what he found inside.

Familiar, as-yet-unassembled armor plates, only a part of the suit that used to be his second skin, now sitting innocently in a suitcase in front of him, with a small handwritten note laying on top. He picked up the little scrap of paper and read Selina's explanation.

If you're up for it, thought we could take it back to where it began tonight. I'll be on a rooftop downtown... see if you can find me.

He let out a breathless laugh as he set the note aside, his eyes falling again to the contents of the suitcase. He touched the plates gently for a moment, then pushed them aside and pulled out something they were hiding underneath - the heart of the suit, really. The cowl that had shrouded his identity for years.

She really was insane, he thought as he held the mask in his hands and contemplated whether he was really going to do this or not. To risk being seen like this, in this suit, by anyone - it caused his knee-jerk reaction to be a resounding hell no. But then he thought about it.

Batman was dead. And in his death, the world had produced a whole generation of hero-worshippers who bought merchandise with the Bat symbol stuck all over it, and some of them even dressed up in similar costumes and went to conventions in full Bat-gear. He knew this because Blake always got a kick out of telling him all about these people, just to watch Bruce groan. But... if he were to be seen tonight, wearing this... nobody would know who he was underneath the cowl, and surely they would assume that he was just another fanboy getting his kicks by dressing up like his dead hero.

He could laugh at the irony of that later. For now, he simply decided that if this was what Selina wanted, on their wedding night, then she'd have it. And anyway, he'd be lying if he said his heart wasn't already pounding in anticipation.

A dumb smile on his face, he started unbuttoning his shirt, wondering if the day would ever come when he'd say no to Selina.

* * *

It was much easier to find Selina in downtown Nassau than it would have been in downtown Gotham. It was also a very scenic trip across the rooftops - the sun was setting on the ocean, and the sky was a darkening mix of blue, pink and orange as he got used to moving and running again in his suit. It was a little too hot outside for the cowl and armor to be comfortable, but if he was lucky, maybe it wouldn't be wearing it for long.

He found her, at last, on the roof of the largest bank in the Bahamas. She was keeping to the shadows, waiting patiently, and he decided that this would be the first time in the entire time that he'd known her where he would finally succeed at sneaking up on her.

But, despite his best efforts, he failed. She was leaning against a closed stairwell, and he was reaching out to slide his hand down her side and catch her by surprise when she casually said, "I knew you'd come."

He almost rolled his eyes behind the cowl. Instead, he walked around in front of her, and allowed to drink up the sight of his wife in the skin-tight, black costume and mask that she still wore in his dreams sometimes. He was so preoccupied with raking his eyes over her that he almost didn't notice that she was doing the same to him.

"You asked," he replied, using the growl of a voice for good measure. If she wanted the Bat, he may as well give her the full experience. "I'm here."

The sound of his voice seemed to make her eyes grow heavier, darker, and with the shadow of a smirk, she stepped out of the shade of the stairwell and began to slowly circle him. "I guess you caught me."

"I'll always catch you," he said, turning his head to watch her walk behind him. His cape was blowing slightly in the breeze, and she was delicately avoiding stepping on it with her razor-sharp heels. It had been awhile since he'd seen her in those... he might make sure those stayed on awhile.

"I don't know..." she purred, coming full circle as she stepped in front of him again. "Does it really count if I want to be caught?"

His eyes flickered down as her gloved hand ran over the symbol at the center of his chest, then up higher, until her fingertips brushed the exposed skin of his jaw. "You got what you wanted. What now?"

"You could chase me... arrest me... or kiss me," she purred, dropping her hand away and taking a step back. "Your choice."

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, not entirely gently. Her body collided with his, softness against steel, and then he was rushing them back, towards the stairwell, until her back hit the hard concrete with a thud, and the shadows had overtook them.

The sun was only a sliver on top of the ocean now, allowing darkness to envelope the city. Bruce could feel her chest rising and falling against his, feel her breath ghosting over her lips, but he could only see the outline of her face now. He let his hands release hers, and he moved them to her waist as he breathed against her ear. He'd never gotten the chance to touch her like this in the suit, not even the last time they'd been dragged into Gotham. There had been no time back then, but now there was all the time in the world, no looming disaster, nothing but darkness and a peaceful breeze, tonight and the next five days to do whatever the hell they wanted.

He bent his knees and scooped her up with one arm, and she hooked her legs around him, just under his belt, and inhaled as he pressed her against the wall. His hand that wasn't supporting her moved up the middle of her chest and stopped at the zipper at her neck. She was silent aside from her breathing, and her eyes locked on his as he pulled the zipper down slowly, just enough to give him a glimpse of the lace-covered, delicate white bra underneath.

It was enough to remind him that he'd gotten married tonight, and that this woman, this creature, this thief in his arms, was his wife. And she was wearing white for him, underneath this catsuit that she was also wearing for his benefit. The urge was suddenly overwhelming to tear and rip until the zipper and the fabric it held together became shreds at his feet, and the effort it took to control that urge made his hands shake. He compromised by finally kissing her, hard and desperate, as he clung to his shoulders and kissed back with equal ferocity.

Then there was a flash in his mind, very unexpectedly, of what could have been had he not hung up the cowl at the age of 31 and made the Batman take the fall for Harvey Dent. Was this a taste of what could have been, if he'd continued his war on crime, and inevitably crossed paths with Gotham's most prolific master jewel thief? Would there have been many nights like this, stolen in the shadows on rooftops and alleyways, the culmination of what would have been the ultimate game of cat and mouse?

He never would have been able to resist her. He never would have been able to tell her no. The cities could change and the years, even decades, could change, but this never would.

And it was then, as he pulled away panting from her lips, that he understood why she'd gone to lengths to make this happen.

"You've thought about this," he said, still keeping his voice low and deep.

"Oh, honey," she grinned, "I thought about this for years, before I even met you. You 'retired' right as I was getting started... it was a shame."

His mind reeled at just the thought of what they could have had back then, the games they could have played, the way she would have slowly consumed him and left him burning for her when she wasn't around to torture him. But that... that was not a scenario where this, their current reality, would have been possible. They never would have made it this far. He was sure of that, and for that reason, he didn't mourn those lost years.

He did, however, find it perfectly agreeable to play around with those thoughts for the time being.

He kissed her again, growling slightly as he did, and he moved her higher up the wall and pinned her to it harder with his body while his roaming hand slipped under the separated neckline of her suit and rubbed through her bra. He swallowed her little sound of pleasure and kept massaging until her hips started moving against him, a wordless plea, and he gave in, taking his hand away and moving it down between her legs, cupping her through her suit, and when he heard a soft whimper waft in his ear through the humid air... it wasn't Selina's.

She heard it too. Their eyes opened and their movements halted as both pairs of ears strained to listen. They heard it again, a distinctly muffled cry, followed by the loud crack of a slap. It was coming from behind the bank.

Without a word, Bruce set Selina down on her feet, and quietly zipped her suit back up for her. Her eyes met his in the darkness, and they both knew there was no way they could, or would ever want to, walk away and pretend they hadn't heard anything.

Bruce didn't have to think twice. He took Selina's hand and walked them silently to the edge of the roof, then crouched down and looked into the alleyway. There were three men - one who was holding a struggling female victim against the wall, one who was taking all of the money out of her purse, and another holding watch with a gun. The man holding the woman was laughing and slapping her around, and his intent was obvious.

"You can have the two idiots if I can have the bastard about to rape that girl," Selina whispered into Bruce's ear. He nodded his agreement, then grabbed her and sent them gliding to the ground.

The three men would never remember exactly what had happened. The man with a gun disappeared in a swoosh of blackness and a very brief cry of pain, and the other two men immediately froze and began looking around wildly for the culprit, shouting for their friend.

The man raiding the girl's purse dropped next, with a punch to his head that the last remaining man could have sworn came literally out of the darkness. Now terrified, he let go of the woman and began making to run for it. But, as soon as he'd put one foot in front of the other, a hand grabbed him by the back of his collar and tossed him back against the alley wall, making sure to bang his head against the concrete in the process.

"What the -" The man squinted against the pain now throbbing in his skull and clouding his vision to look at the woman standing in front of him, her cat-like silhouette and dangerous aura pulsating almost as strongly as his head was. "The hell are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she grinned before landing a kick to his groin.

Blinded with pain and damn near incapacitated now, the thug dropped to his knees and clutched at himself, a moment later retrieving a knife from his sock and slashing at his attacker with it. It ended up being one of the biggest mistakes he'd made all night, because as she jumped back to avoid the knife, a much larger, darker figure descended out of nowhere and kicked the blade from his hand, then broke his wrist before knocking him out cold with one blow to the head.

With all three men unconscious, Bruce and Selina admired their handiwork for just a moment before turning and looking at the almost-victim, who was frozen in place against the wall and staring open-mouthed at them.

Selina picked up the girl's purse and tossed it back to her. She caught it but continued to stare and look from Selina to Bruce as if she'd never seen anything so bizarre in her life.

"What?" Selina asked. "Never heard of cosplay or seen a couple into roleplaying before?"

"... No," the girl half-stuttered. "But thanks."

She then ran off, and Selina turned to find Bruce staring at her. It was an intense stare, made even more so by the darkness around them, and the adrenaline surging through their veins was having a potent effect on both of them.

Bruce grabbed her and shot his grapple gun towards the bank's roof. "Where did you get us a room?"

She grinned just before they shot up towards the roof. "I didn't. Up for some breaking and entering?"

Bruce wasn't exactly happy to hear that. He wanted - needed - her now, even more so than he had before the fight. The adrenaline and rush of his first fight in ages had only increased his already pulsing desire for his new wife, and all he wanted was a room somewhere nearby that he could throw her into and not leave until he was good and ready.

She must have noticed the set of his jaw by the time they were back on the roof, because she grinned and ran a finger over his bottom lip as she said, "Relax. See those condos over there? The one on the top floor is owned by some old couple who only comes here in November and December. I also happen to know that the windows are unlocked."

Damn it all, he thought. It was either that or take her right here on this roof, then, and a vacant condo sounded far safer.

Only problem was, he couldn't get there fast enough.

* * *

Neither of them had come down from their high when they quietly let themselves into the condo through a big picture window in it's living room. Selina went in first, all grace and control despite the explosion simmering under the surface, and Bruce hurried in after her, completely operating on instinct and need by now.

She had barely made it ten steps in and gotten two words out about how nice the place was before Bruce grabbed her wrist and spun her around, then crushed her to him with a bruising kiss and hands that he planned to keep on her body all night. She moaned a little at the roughness of his kiss, holding on to him with just as much fervor and latching her legs around his waist for the second time that night as he carried her into the completely dark home.

He shoved her against the first wall he encountered and fumbled around for a light while she quickly disposed of the utility belt around his hips. He found no light, so he growled and picked her up again, then plunged them deeper into the darkness in search of the bedroom.

"Wait," she gasped, pulling away from his lips and pulling down her goggles over her mask. "Night vision, remember?"

He merely panted in reply, and after a quick look around, she said, "Turn us left, go about ten feet and then take another left."

He followed her directions, and blessedly ended up in a bedroom at last. "Bed, straight forward," she said, and only seconds later, he laid her down upon it and again fumbled around for a light. This time he found it, in the form of a lamp on the nightstand.

He flipped the light on, and looked down as it bathed Selina in warm light that was just bright enough to illuminate the bed without being glaring or overbearing. She reached back behind her head and removed her mask and goggles, tossing them to the side as he watched her take in the sight of Batman hovering over her.

He watched an internal struggle take place within her, only learning what the struggle was about when she reached up and gently slid her fingers under his cowl's release latches, then pulled it over his head. Now unmasked, his hair fell messily into his eyes and she brushed it back with her hands as he continued to stare down at her.

Then it all seemed to burst - the desire, the adrenaline, the rush of the fight, all igniting and blurring together as he descended upon her. He kissed her furiously and let his hands loose, aligning her body to his before one of pulled down her zipper for the second time that day, though this time he yanked it down and pulled it as low as it could go. She helped him pull the fabric apart, and he pulled it nearly down to her elbows before tearing his lips away from hers to kiss his way down the newly bare flesh.

It was as he was pulling her suit further down her body that he saw it, the large purple bruise covering her side, and his eyes darkened and his tone became gruff as he demanded, "What is that? Is that... from tonight?"

Selina shook her head. "That's from last night."

"The hell did you do last night?!"

She shrugged innocently and reached under her back to unhook her bra and discard it, but it didn't distract him from pressing on. "Selina."

"So I got into some trouble during my bachelorette party... but you should see the other guy."

He wanted to scold her and could have gone on and on about how angry it made him to see the evidence of Selina putting herself in harm's way, but even he could see that now wasn't the time for it. He channeled his anger into something else, letting it fuel his arousal as he growled and kissed her hard enough to release some of his frustration and exasperation with her.

Soon he realized that her damn boots were keeping him from getting her any more naked than she already was, so with a sound of annoyance he sat back on his heels and yanked them off, then pulled off the rest of her catsuit in one swift motion. She pushed herself up on her palms, now left in only her bridal undergarments, and grinned as she tightened her legs around his waist and grabbed his shoulders to pull herself up on his lap fully. She looked down at his suit, taking in all of the little pieces of it as she said, "I have no clue how to get all of this off of you."

"Don't worry about me," he replied, his voice caught between his natural voice and the growl he knew she loved. "Not yet."

Then he held her close and placed her down on her back once more, taking a moment to remove his gloves and gauntlets and send them clanking to the floor before placing a bare hand on each of her legs, just above the knees, and spreading them before sliding his own knees down the bed and settling himself down between her limbs. His lips grazed her thigh and he let his teeth scrape over her skin as he worked his way inwards, getting a small shiver from her in response. He pulled her other leg over his shoulder and stretched the other one to it's limit as he kept kissing his way up.

Selina was nearly mad with anticipation by the time she felt his warm breath on her skin, millimeters from where she needed his mouth, and she heard a faint and slightly humorous "Sorry" before she felt a rip and then cool air over her hips.

She smiled and glanced down as she said, "What if I wanted to keep th-"

Her words died on her lips and became a shaky exhale as his lips found her at last. He didn't tease or or play around, and he had her writhing and on the edge in moments, moments that she spent clutching his hair and letting fragmented words fall from her mouth.

His soft suckling was what pushed her over, and he didn't raise his head until she stopped moving under his lips. He moved up her body then, placing soft kisses as he went, and vaguely he became aware that he was utterly and miserably hot inside of his suit, not to mention horribly and painfully constricted. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him gently, then pulled away when she felt his sweat dripping from his temples down to her fingertips. He was also trembling against her.

She used her legs to leverage herself on top of him, rolling them over until she was on top and straddling his waist. Her hands rested on his chest and she said, "Show me how to take it off."

And he did, taking her hands and showing her the latches and the pieces that held the suit together and could also take it apart. It seemed fitting for her to take it off of him, when she was the only one in the world that he would have ever put it back on for.

When it was done, and she'd pulled the last bit of material from his body, she flattened down upon him, her chest to his, and rocked herself teasingly against him as she kissed him deeply. She moved just enough for him to feel her but not enough to take her, and he didn't appreciate that, having not tormented her in this way himself at all. He flipped her over with little effort, and she grinned up at him as he half-glared down at her.

A fast, smooth thrust inside of her wiped the smile off of her face and replaced it with her eyes fluttering shut and her muscles tensing around him, her arms around his neck tightening as she sighed into his neck. A groan escaped his throat, at last finding relief that he'd been dying for, in all honesty, for hours now. He quickly started moving, and she matched him, then pushed him to go faster, whispered it in his ear as well, and he let go.

By now it was second nature, to be together like this and let instinct rather than thinking decide their next moves. They twisted and turned and ended up so entirely different from how they began, on the other end of the bed, Bruce sitting up and Selina on his lap, as close to one another as they could physically manage, their lips locked in bruising kisses all the way until that last moment when it all finally exploded in a blinding, deafening, nearly indescribably perfect white-hot burst behind their eyes.

It had almost been too much. A long time ago, it would have been. But now, instead of running away, Selina dropped her head down on Bruce's shoulder, and he pulled her close, running his hands over the smooth skin of her back as they breathed in deep lungfuls of air. If today had proven anything, it was that the days of either of them running away were over for good. And those were days they were happy to bid farewell to.

When one of his hands moved to her side, over the bruise he'd discovered, he glanced down at it and traced the edges of it lightly as he murmured, "What am I going to do with you, Selina?"

"Hopefully what you just did," she said, her fingers running through the back of his hair, "over and over... a lot."

He gently pulled her away from him, and wiped off some smeared red lipstick from her mouth as she smiled up at him. "Tell me what happened."

"Some guys thought me and Molly looked good enough to rape," Selina replied. "One of them got a kick in. Thus the bruise. But that's all they did."

A million thoughts ran through his mind, all irrational and overprotective as the next, but then he got a glimpse of a clock on the wall over Selina's shoulder, and he blurted, "We have to be at the airport in half an hour."

She raised her eyebrows. "Half an hour?" He nodded, and she laughed. "I don't know if you realize this, but aside from these costumes... we have no clothes."

"I pre-checked our bags in yesterday with the airline, but... no, at the moment, we don't," he acknowledged. Selina then sprang up from his lap and headed towards the closet.

"Maybe the lovely old couple we 'rented' this place from can donate some clothes to our cause," she contemplated, opening the doors to the closet and immediately frowning. It was just as she'd expected - clothes that definitely looked like they belonged to two very old people.

Bruce tried to straighten up the room as she dug around for something that could make do until they could get into their luggage, and as she held up a white dress that might be okay if she cinched the waist, she asked over her shoulder, "So, do I get to know where we're going?"

"Maybe," he replied, standing in his boxers and looking down at the pile of his armor and her catsuit on the floor. "What are we going to do with this... stuff?"

She glanced behind her after pulling the dress on and replied, "Molly will be by to pick it up. Don't worry, I covered all my bases."

She tossed him a light blue polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts - the best she could do - and he grinned and replied, "I see that."

When he was dressed in the slightly oversized clothes and she'd found a small belt to cinch the dress with, he approached her and smiled as he brushed her hair back with his hand and asked, "Was it what you wanted?"

She smiled and nodded. "You lived up to my not-so-secret fantasies. I might want you to break out that suit more often. Or at least the voice."

"I'm sure we can work something out," he grinned, kissing her lips gently before adding, "And we're going to Greece."

"Greece?" she repeated with a smirk. "I've never been there."

He smiled. "I know. And you'll love it. Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go."


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: short top note today :) here's the honeymoon, hope everyone enjoys :) thanks to you guys for your reviews and support, and to midnightwings96 for her awesomeness :D**

After sleeping during most of their late flight to Greece, Selina was surprised to land in Athens only to immediately board another plane. But the second plane was a tiny jet, and the pilot happened to be Bruce himself, and their destination was a mountainous little island named Corfu.

There was something especially titillating about watching Bruce pilot the aircraft, as comfortable in the cockpit as he was behind the wheel of an imported sportscar, casually steering the plane in dark aviator sunglasses and uncharacteristically light clothing. Light hit his left hand just right and his wedding ring shone upon his ring finger as it gripped the controls, and then Selina's eyes fell to the new band on her own finger.

Thoughts of yesterday mixed with thoughts of last night - and what a night it had been - but thoughts of the future, and specifically the next five days, made Selina's head spin. Five days with no kids, no jobs, no friends, nothing but each other and all of the hours in the day to do whatever they wanted, seemed like the strangest idea in the world, and also a significant relief. Their days alone as a couple had been so brief and seemed so far away that Selina wasn't sure what they would spend the whole week even doing. Besides the obvious.

He glanced at her when her gaze went back to him, and his eyes smiled behind his glasses as he said, "We're flying over a country you've never seen before and yet you're staring at me."

She grinned and tilted her head as she replied, "Well... I was just wondering what on earth we're going to spend the next five days doing."

Bruce smirked and answered, "I can think of a few things."

"Am I going to actually see any of Greece this week?" Selina asked, honestly rather okay with it if the answer was no.

"You will," he nodded. "There's a lot to see and do where we're going. Don't worry about that."

"Mmm," she hummed in reply, continuing to look him over as she spoke more. "You know what I love about you? Besides the obvious things... like the fact that you're an amazing father, unfailingly moral and forgiving, and more than I deserve in general... I love that you're just... disgustingly sexy."

He chuckled and removed his sunglasses as his eyes met hers. "Disgustingly?"

She smiled and nodded. "It really is ridiculous. I honestly never knew that attraction could last this long and be this intense, almost three years later."

"You thought you wouldn't be attracted to me after a couple years?" he asked, squinting a little bit as he turned his eyes back to the sky.

"No, I thought that if anyone could break the rule, it would be you. You know what they say about the 'fire dying'."

"Hopefully we keep being the exception to the rule," Bruce remarked. "Never know, I might start balding soon and get a ponch. How do you think I'd look with a combover?"

"About as good as I'd look with one," Selina replied with a smile. The good thing was, even if such an event occurred in the future, she knew now how little it would actually affect anything. To her, the sexiest thing about Bruce was his eyes, and the way that they could cut through her and take her from calm to feverish with one little look. And that, no matter what age or time may bring, would never change.

"So," Selina said, changing the subject, "what made you decide on a Greek island for our honeymoon? Since we live on an island already."

Checking the navigational system next to the plane's controls, Bruce shrugged lightly and said, "I figure you've spent long enough in the cold. We can take the kids to cold places on vacation so they can play in the snow and stuff, but for just me and you... I'd rather stay in the sun. Wouldn't you?"

She smiled in response. He was a smart man.

* * *

"Selina," Molly huffed on the other line as Bruce checked them into their hotel, "get off the phone right now and have sex."

"I'm in a hotel lobby," Selina rolled her eyes, looking around the admittedly gorgeous lobby. Outside was the ocean and an island that was cool and nothing like the Bahamas, and Selina had a feeling she was going to love this place. "So can't really do that at the moment."

"The kids are fine," Molly sighed. "Just like they were an hour ago. Now stop calling or I'll tell Bruce to turn off your phone. And you know he will."

Selina glanced back at Bruce and he did the same to her, giving her a disapproving look as he was handed a key. She rolled her eyes - he'd called twice since last night himself, so he had no room to judge. "Fine. Just... text me updates, alright?"

"Alright. By the way, I went and got the, um, items from the condo you 'borrowed', and they're in the back of my closet behind my shoes."

"Thanks," Selina grinned lightly.

"I'm kind of tempted to... ah... _borrow_ them myself. Would you mind?"

"Bruce is like five inches taller than Christian, Molly. I don't think it would fit, but if you want to give it a try," Selina shrugged humorously, "go for it."

"Oh my God, I need to get the kids to sleep, bye."

Selina smiled and hung up the phone, then turned to find Bruce just a few inches away. He took her hand and together they started heading towards a pair of elevators.

"No more phones," Bruce chided her gently as he hit the "up" button. "They know to call if they really need to."

"Goes for you too, then," she said, stepping inside of the elevator ahead of him. She was wearing a coral-colored sundress and she could feel his eyes on her as she walked, just before she turned and he stepped inside himself.

"Fair enough," Bruce replied, running his eyes all the way down to her feet before the doors closed.

A smooth, brief ride later, they stepped into a hallway and reached the door of their suite, the largest one in the building and one commonly used for honeymoons, though it wasn't designated as such. Bruce had taken Selina to some ridiculously extravagant hotels in the past, but when they walked inside the room, Selina thought this one took the cake.

The first thing Selina noticed - besides the breathtaking views outside the picture windows and the fragrant, fresh local flowers sitting about the room in vases, not to mention the full bar and sitting area the size of their living room at home - was the shiny, untouched-looking piano sitting in the middle of the room. She'd never set foot in a suite that came equipped with a piano, that was for sure.

"Well... you did good," Selina grinned as she set off to check out the bedroom. Bruce followed her with their luggage, grinning when the first thing she did was jump into the center of the bed on her back, spreading out her arms among the silk sheets and letting out a content purr. Bruce set their luggage aside as she closed her eyes and continued to act as if they didn't have a bed and sheets just as expensive and luxurious at home, and slowly he lowered himself down to the bed as well, stretching out over her as she opened her eyes and smirked up at him.

"Tired?" he asked, eyes traveling down to the side of her neck before his lips followed.

Her hand tangled in his hair as she replied, "A little... I'm more hungry than tired."

He kissed down her exposed neckline before replying, "We can leave and get lunch... or we can stay here." He raised his head and looked down at her lips as he added, "Your choice."

She appeared to think it over for a moment, then raised her arms over her head and answered, "Take my dress off."

He happily obliged, moving his hands down to the ends of her dress and pushing it up, over her thighs and stomach, then over her bare chest before pulling it gently over her head. She pushed up then by her palms flat on the bed and he moved back as she moved forward, winding his arms around her as she placed a passionate kiss to his lips.

She waited until he'd groaned into her mouth and rocked against her before she pulled away, grinning at him and murmuring "Thanks."

He then watched in confusion as she bounded up and out of bed, then ducked down to get into her suitcase. "But..."

"I'm going to need lots of calories to keep my energy up this week," she smiled to herself, rummaging through the clothes she'd brought. She ended up choosing a turquoise colored strapless dress, and pulled it on over her head as she stood up again. When she turned, she found Bruce watching her half-amused and half-disappointed. "Oh come on. I promise, I'm not going to tease you and torture you all week."

"Really," he retorted, not believing her for a minute.

"Not _all_ week," she grinned, taking his hand and pulling him off the bed. "Come on. Let's eat."

* * *

It was early evening local time and the sun had already set by the time they'd sat down to eat, but Corfu after sunset was still quite a sight. The restaurant they chose had overlooked the ocean and had a lovely view of the mountains even despite the darkness outside. They had been quiet but half-snuggled together in their booth while they awaited their orders to arrive, but that ended when Selina made the mistake of reflexively pulling out her phone when her mind had gotten a chance to wander.

Bruce snatched it away before she could so much as unlock it. She shot him an irritated look and protested, "What the hell?"

"We agreed," he said, placing the phone in the pocket of his jeans, "no more phones."

"You're seriously going to take my phone away. Like I'm a child."

"No," he replied, a hint of a grin on his lips. "Like you're my wife, who needs to relax and enjoy our honeymoon."

"I can do that just fine with my phone," she replied.

"You're cute when you're irritated," Bruce remarked, earning an especially hard glare from her.

"Keep it up and I'll be damn near adorable soon."

Selina took a sullen drink of water, then shuddered involuntarily when she felt warm lips on her neck. She set the glass down and swallowed as he trailed kisses upwards, until he reached her ear. His hand came to her just above her knee and brushed her dress' hemline as he whispered, "I'll keep you focused on me all week even if it kills me."

Her eyes tried to flutter shut as the slight growl to his tone reverberated through her skin and down her spine, but she fought to keep her expression neutral. That was, until she felt his lips at her ear and then the gentle nipping of teeth. It sent her blood flowing to all the right places and she didn't fail to notice his hand moving higher up her thigh, under her dress.

"Careful there, boy scout," she breathed, turning her head and breaking his contact with her ear. Her nose brushed his as she added, "It's not nice to tease, remember?"

"Who said I was teasing?" he retorted before capturing her lips in a slow, smoldering kiss. She melted against him, threading her fingers in his hair as they pressed closer together, and when she felt fingers brush against her through her underwear, she almost gasped in surprise.

She cracked her eyes open just enough to glance around her, and the booth they were in was sufficiently private, but their server was due back any moment. This wasn't the first time they'd been in this situation, but it was the first time he'd initiated something somewhere this... public.

He sensed her surprise and pulled away from their kiss to give her a burning look, then murmur, "You wanted the Bat. You got him."

Then he was back on her, kissing her deeply as his fingers found his way inside the thin material barrier, and that along with his words nearly made her climax right then. She wasn't used to this - she was the one who was always pushing the physical boundaries, he the emotional ones, but the reversal of the roles was amazingly satisfying. He and the Bat were one and the same, always would be, even if that wilder, above-the-law side of him was kept under wraps most of the time. It made those times when she did get to tangle with his darker side all the more special and delicious.

That part of him that always managed to hold back and keep them from full public indecency was gone at the moment, replaced by a man who was now sucking bruises into her neck and picking up the pace with his gentle but urging fingers, leaving her to claw at his hair and look around without really seeing anything. She kept silent and nearly screamed with the effort that it took, biting her lip hard enough to make it bleed, and all the while he rubbed faster and faster, very much aware that this was all very time-sensitive, and it was just as she came close to hitting her peak that he abruptly separated from her.

She whimpered and stared open-mouthed at him but he only smirked with that slightly wild-eyed look of his and then lightly gestured to the server making her way to their booth. Her jaw set and she quickly crossed her legs and fixed her dress, then ran her thumb under her lip to fix the lipstick she knew had to be smeared as two large plates of food were placed in front of them. The smell of the gourmet Greek food was incredible and made her mouth water as soon as it hit her nose, but she was far too angry and frustrated to even consider touching the food.

When the server left she glanced at Bruce with her full irritation on display, and he caught her eye as he dropped his napkin over his lap. Then, still holding her gaze, he casually brought his other hand, the one that had been occupied a moment earlier, to his lips and licked them as one would after a meal, and Selina narrowed her eyes at this slightly unfamiliar creature in front of her.

He went about digging in on his meal like it was nothing, and still unable to quite find the words to express the height of both her anger and arousal at the moment, Selina gritted her teeth and did the same. She was starving after all, and damn if she'd let Bruce ruin her first meal in Greece. It was all a game now, and she thought she'd win back some of her power by trying to prove to him that he didn't have any over her. But she was eating the food way too fast and taking swigs of water far too angrily to tell him anything other than the truth.

"How is it?" Bruce asked in unabashed amusement.

"Fine," she bit back, her tone facetiously pleasant. "How's yours?"

"Satisfying," he grinned before bringing another forkful to his mouth.

She all but stabbed her fork down on her plate. It was on now.

* * *

He made no effort to finish what he started, and she gave him the silent treatment all the way back to the hotel. He wore a stupid grin the entire time and the entire way back to their room, and didn't bat an eye when she grabbed a swimsuit from their suitcase and stomped off to the bathroom. A moment later she emerged, spat "I'm going for a swim," then walked right back out of their room without another word.

The hotel pool was outside of the main building, under a canopy and again offering a gorgeous view of the rolling waves off the shoreline, and also empty. It wasn't the season for tourists, and that suited then both just fine.

The night was cool and the water was heated and the perfect temperature. Selina sank into the water and enjoyed her time alone with the pool, knowing it would be brief, and sure enough, just when her body had fully adjusted to the water, she heard the soft splashing of another body entering the pool.

She swam to the east corner of the pool and turned as she placed her back to the wall, pushing her wet hair back on her head as she looked Bruce in the eye. He was coming towards her, slowly but surely, and she wondered how long she'd have the motivation to keep up the angry act.

"Didn't think cats liked water," Bruce commented, the light reflecting off of the water on to his amused face.

"This one doesn't mind it," she replied. She waited until he'd almost reached her before ducking down into the water and swimming off again. He followed, like she knew he would.

She came up for air somewhere in the middle of the pool, again pushing her hair back and looking around to find herself seemingly alone. But she knew she wasn't, and she wasn't entirely surprised when she felt arms seize her legs and yank her back down into the water. She opened her eyes after the plunge and felt the same arms wrap around her and pull her close to Bruce's chest, and he looked as if he was enjoying himself immensely. She rolled her eyes at him and easily escaped his grasp, swimming off towards the surface and the closest wall to rest against.

She'd just rested her back against the western wall of the pool and blinked the water from her eyes when he emerged a few feet away, his mouth opening in a deep breath and head jerking back to shake the soaked hair away from his forehead. Then his eyes met hers and she felt her will to resist crumbling as he swam to her.

"Sorry about earlier," he smiled, invading her space, floating just an inch away from her.

"No you're not," she replied. "I wouldn't be." She rested her hands on his wet shoulders, pulling him closer and wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing herself harder against the wall. "You'd just better finish what you start this time."

"You're assuming I'm going to start something at all," he said, though his hands defied his words and dove deeper underwater to the ties of her swimsuit bottom on each hip.

"Well... compared to the restaurant, this is almost private," she pointed out.

"No it isn't," he smirked. "There's two security cameras on each side of the canopy. And an attendant through the doors behind us who's probably either watching or taking a nap. Plus the first three floors on the east side of the building have a clear view."

She raised a brow to him as she felt the ties give way. Then one of his hands rose from the water and set the bottoms on top of the concrete behind her. "You surprise me, Mr. Wayne."

"Maybe I'm full of surprises," he replied, "Mrs. Wayne."

She couldn't help the jolt that his words caused to run through her, nor her mewl of relief when his lips crashed on to hers. He was done teasing and she was done fighting, and like always, the games they played never failed to prove worth playing.

His hands left her body only to fumble under the water for a very brief moment, and then he was pulling her close again, bringing one hand under the cup of her bikini top and massaging her wet skin as he pressed himself against her. She adjusted her legs around his waist to better position herself, and then sighed contentedly into his mouth when he pushed into her.

Her nails dug into the ends of his dripping hair at the back of his neck as she held on, barely able to form words as he began his assault and also kissed open-mouthed down her neck, but she wanted to ask a question on her mind. "This your... first time... in a... semi-public pool?" she asked, pauses punctuated by his thrusts.

"Maybe," he grunted back, barely able to understand her words. "You?"

"... No."

He quickly halted, and she couldn't fight from smirking. Of course he wouldn't be angry about this not being a first for her, but he'd be greatly irritated by the implication of who she'd once done this with before. He pulled back and glared at her, and she merely smiled. "You think I'm cute when I'm irritated. And I don't think there's anything sexier than when you're jealous."

He suddenly gave a sharp thrust and caught her off guard, watching as her eyes closed and head fell back a little. "I have no one to be jealous of. You're my wife. You're mine."

He then surprised her by leaning back and pushing her further against the wall, leaving a gap between them large enough to give his hand room to go down to where their bodies met. He kept driving into her, harder and harder while his fingers went to work, and she had to cling to his shoulder with one outstretched arm and clutch the concrete behind her with the other just to keep afloat. It was a difficult but rewarding angle, and she watched the struggle to wait for her to go first play out across his handsome, painfully focused face.

Thunder rumbled off in the distance when she at last found the relief she'd been dying for since dinner, and when he felt her clench and spasm around himself, he huffed in relief and flung himself forward to crush against her as he dropped all of his strained control.

He breathed hard into her shoulder as he slowly calmed down, and she kept her arms around his neck, stroking his hair with her hand as she opened her eyes and stared forward. "_God_, Bruce..."

"Mmm," he agreed, sounding exhausted and highly sated, like he could have drifted off to sleep right where they were.

She was tired too, ready to climb into that big bed back in their room and get ready for a full day in Greece. If the first evening was like this, she could only imagine what the rest of the week would be like.

* * *

"When are you going to get your leg fixed?" Selina asked the next morning, siting up in bed with a silken sheet covering her body as she watched Bruce dress for the day. He'd just gotten out of the shower and had thrown on a pair of khaki shorts and a plain white t-shirt before perching on the edge of the bed to put his brace on. He didn't wear it all the time anymore, and hadn't worn it at all yesterday, and usually when he wore it it meant he planned to be rather physically active for the day.

He glanced back at her and shrugged, "Soon."

"But why haven't you yet?" she asked. "I mean, you own an entire hospital."

He sighed and looked down at the brace that he was admittedly very sick of and replied, "Last doctor I saw recommended two complete knee replacements. I've just been putting it off is all."

"But why?" she pressed. "If you're in pain and don't have to be..."

He paused again before forcing himself to answer. "Recovery time takes awhile and... I just didn't want to do it yet."

She continued to stare at him in confusion until it all clicked. A lot clicked, actually. Before Thomas' birth, it wasn't uncommon for Bruce to work all seven days a week at the hospital, not bother with days off, and sometimes come home rather late. But ever since their son had come along - as well as Selina's post partum depression - he'd been taking at least two days off a week, every week, without fail. He'd gotten better at cleaning up after himself, and even did the kids' laundry for her without asking sometimes. Now he was telling her that he'd been putting off surgery that he'd needed for years, and she knew why.

"Bruce... I'm fine. Really, I am. I don't feel anything like I did then. I don't want you to put this off because you're afraid I might freak out without your help with the kids."

Bruce looked back at her again, and she added, "I'm serious. Promise me you'll get your knees fixed when we get back."

He smiled a little bit and began to climb up into the bed. "And if I don't?"

He laid his head in her lap and smiled up at her, and she shook her head as her fingers ran through his hair. "If you don't... I might have to cut you off."

"Cut me off?"

She nodded. "No sex until you do what I say."

"Well, in that case..."

She giggled as he pulled the sheet down as far as he could, and she slapped his hand away and quickly slipped out of the bed. He gave her backside a little smack just before she slipped out of his reach. "Wear something comfortable."

"Why? What are we doing?"

"You'll see when we get there."

* * *

He took her to Mount Pantokrator, the highest peak on the island at 2,972 feet tall. From there, the entire island of Corfu as well as some of Albania was visible, and when he gave her the option of driving or walking to the summit, she smirked and told him to make sure his brace was on good and tight.

As they both stayed in shape and the mountain had plenty of oxygen to go around, the walk up wasn't overly difficult. It was a good workout, and gave them a chance to talk with their clothes on for a change.

They broke out snacks from her bag that Bruce had instructed her to pack when they reached the summit, which proved to be every bit as breathtaking as they'd anticipated. They sat near the edge of the peak on an old stone wall and munched on protein bars as they took in the sight.

In some way, looking at Selina like this - happy, carefree, sitting on top of a mountain with the island and it's surrounding ocean at her feet - was how he'd always imagined her in his mind. He'd met her as a stray cat stalking the cold streets and alleyways of Gotham but, this woman sitting beside him and closing her eyes briefly as a breeze blew past them... this was who he'd known was underneath that catsuit all along. Still untamed and never fully domesticated, confident, _free_.

And it was a relief beyond his capacity to express in words to see her happy like this, after all they'd been through in the last months. He had to wonder if she realized how much of himself he would have lost if she'd slipped through his fingers.

She caught him staring, and instantly saw the serious and loving set of his eyes as he drank her in. She smiled and he smiled back. Words weren't really necessary.

Instead of speaking, he took her left hand in his right one, and brought it too his mouth for a kiss. His lips brushed over her wedding band, and she understood the sweet gesture for the thanks that it was.

* * *

Selina changed into another light dress of hers after they descended from the mountain, and after a quick lunch, they set out to explore the more forested areas of Corfu.

They drove for this part of the day, inside of a shiny silver rental car that Bruce drove too fast. She didn't mind, though, keeping her eyes on their surroundings like a child who'd just ventured into new, exciting territory and had to take in every tree and every bird that passed by.

"Lot of pomegranate trees," she noted absently as they weaved down a small, unpaved road surrounded by the local foliage.

"Want one?" he asked.

She chuckled and replied, "Well, it's not really a fruit you can just pick and eat like an apple."

"Sure it is," Bruce grinned before turning down a small gap in the trees, off the road, and turning off the engine. "Come on. I'll pick you one."

Selina looked at him like he was crazy but unbuckled her seatbelt and followed him anyway. She walked out of the car and around the front of it, then walked with him into a row of short little pomegranate trees. It was weirdly fascinating to watch him touch various pieces of the hanging fruits, checking them for ripeness, like he'd done this a thousand times.

He only found one that he deemed suitable after inspecting five trees. He plucked the plump, vibrant pomegranate from the leaves and then turned back around, gesturing back to the car as Selina nodded and followed.

He sat on the edge of the car's hood, and she sat beside him without a word until she watched him pluck out a small knife from his pocket.

"You don't normally carry knives like that," she pointed out.

He shrugged. "Never know when you might have to cut up a pomegranate in the middle of nowhere."

She watched him slice through the fruit and wondered how in the world he expected either of them to eat the seeds like this without making a gigantic mess on themselves. He handed her two of the four pieces he cut, almost into wedges, and she gave him a look. "I'm wearing a light yellow dress. This is going to ruin it."

"No, just be careful," he said. "I'll show you."

And sure enough, he did show her. He bit down gently into the seeds and quickly sucked up the juices that would have otherwise divebombed his white shirt. Then he licked off the drops that nearly got away from him, and Selina noted that he somehow managed to do this without looking like a huge slob. In fact, watching him lick and suck at the tangy fruit made her feel... funny.

"See?" he said. "Easy. You try."

She gave it her best shot, but as soon as the seeds hit her mouth, her chin ended up sprayed with pomegranate juice. Which was better than her dress, but still annoying. Bruce chuckled and she sighed as she used her free hand to wipe the juice off. "Ugh. Do you have a lot of experience eating pomegranates like this or something?"

"No," he replied. "Not pomegranates."

Her eyes narrowed slightly then as he took another soft bite out of the fruit. He watched her as she watched him, specifically his lips, and she appeared to lose interest in consuming any of the fruit herself. But he took his time finishing his piece, and she didn't stop watching until he'd swallowed the last seed.

"You're almost blushing," he grinned, tossing the empty fruit to the ground. "Wonder why that is."

"You're the master detective," she grinned, laying down on her back on top of the hood. "Come figure it out."

He grinned and gently leaned over, hovering over top of her as he kissed her. The sweet, fruity taste lingered on their tongues as Selina pulled him down hard against her, his hands moving up her parted legs as her dress fell up and nearly exposed her. A car drove by but they didn't pay it any attention, not even when a second one flew past and Bruce pulled down one of the straps on her dress to taste the soft skin of her breast.

Her hand snaked down and stroked him through his shorts, and he raised his head only to groan and then drop his face against her neck, holding her cheek with one slightly shaky hand as hers went a step forward and went underneath the fabric and grasped him fully.

She'd barely gotten started when a third car zoomed past and honked several times. Bruce jerked up and off of her and she snatched her hand back just as quickly, both of them startled and dazed but quickly starting to laugh as they scrambled off of the hood and back into the car.

They shared grins and a few more laughs as Bruce turned on the engine and then hit the gas. But instead of taking them to the road, he took the car deeper into the woods - away from the sight of any other cars on the main road - and then he turned the engine back off.

"Take off your dress and get in the backseat," Bruce said in a low tone as he pulled the key from the ignition. She grinned and did as she was told, left only in her panties once she climbed into the backseat. He followed a moment later, still fully clothed as he picked up where he left off. He kissed her and pushed her down flat on the seats, one hand on the small of her back and the other one on her breast as she instantly arched into him.

She knew what was in store when he made no attempt to even take off his own shirt, instead only concerning himself with kissing every inch of her and getting the last scrap of fabric off her body before bringing her leg over his shoulder.

Countless times he'd done this and never did it get old or repetitive, especially after that bit with the pomegranate. Every time she thought she'd pinned down his technique and could predict what his tongue would do next - and sometimes she'd try - he'd do something that threw her off and sent her back to square one, until she stopped caring and simply felt, and this time was no exception. He was faster and hungrier and couldn't have been distracted from his task by anything, not by her fingers pulling his hair or his shorts strangling him to death, or even the fact that he was bent in a very awkward angle in the small backseat.

The car contained her moans and his hands kept her hips still as he brought her to completion and then back again, not lifting his head by an inch until she'd come down from her high. The upside to giving and not yet receiving was this moment, where he could run his hands up her body and drag his lips along her skin, then watch her face as she eventually came back around to reality. He let her take her time and kissed her neck lightly until he felt soft hands start to push up his t-shirt.

Only a moment later he was sitting up, back against the seats as she took control on his lap. She pulled him free from his shorts after stripping off his shirt and then asked in a breathy whisper what he wanted her to do. He answered her by grabbing her hips and pulling her down, filling her to the limit, and she took it from there.

* * *

On the third day, Selina awoke in bed alone. She blinked and looked around a bit groggily before sitting up, glancing at her phone - which Bruce had given back to her yesterday - on the nightstand to check the time. It wasn't too late in the morning. Then she noticed an unread text from Molly, and opened it to find a picture of Helena and Thomas back at home.

Helena's face was smeared with sticky-looking red candy and she was hugging her little brother on Molly's couch, both of them wearing huge, cheesy smiles. Selina's heart ached a little at the sight. The first two days had truly felt like the greatest vacation ever, freeing and exhilarating, and it still was, but now she was really starting to miss her babies.

She locked the phone before her heart could hurt even more, then got up and threw on a short, black silk robe as she set out to find where Bruce had ventured off to.

She found him on the far opposite end on the room, lying on a bench press that she didn't even know the room had until that very moment. She'd been far too caught up in Greece, the food, and Bruce to notice the equipment, apparently. But his position suited her just fine.

He'd been gradually working his way back up to his previous weight limits since his back surgery, and had only ignored his doctors' advice a little bit, which was a good change for him. At any rate, Selina could now walk in and find him lifting weights without having a complete worry-fueled meltdown.

His eyes were closed and he was as deeply focused on his task as he always was on everything he ever did. But this didn't mean he was easy to sneak up on, so Selina made her footsteps especially silent as she approached him.

Her plans were foiled when he said mid-lift, "You know you can't sneak up on me, either."

Selina rolled her eyes but sauntered to him all the same. He was dressed only in boxers and she couldn't help from making herself at home on his lap, straddling him as he continued his work unaffected. She placed her palms down flat on his abs as she asked, "Needed an early start?"

"Actually," he replied, "I tried to wake you up."

"Well you must not have done a very good job of it," she chided, watching the muscles in his upper arms flex as he worked.

"Well," he sighed, "you must have been really exhausted last night, because normally what I did to wake you up never fails."

_Oh_. Well, that was a shame. "Sorry," she purred, placing a kiss to his chest as he reached his goal and lifted the barbell back to it's rack. "I'll make it up to you."

"I have no doubt," he grinned, starting to sit up. But she pushed him back down flat on his back.

She placed a lingering little kiss to his lips and purred, "I said I'd make it up to you."

He got the picture then, and stayed down and got comfortable as she started kissing his neck. He shuddered briefly when her tongue ran over a sensitive place, then reached between them and grabbed the tip of her robe's silk belt and pulled it open. She didn't stop him, instead pulling her lips away and sitting up straight on top of him to properly shed the robe and reveal the lack of anything underneath. He quickly pulled her back down, filling his hands with her breasts as she plundered his mouth with hers, then started rocking her hips gently into his, just enough to feel how hard he was and to torture him just a little.

Sometimes he was too easy, she thought with a mental grin, but she'd never dare be stupid enough to complain. Instead, she savored his automatic, passionate physical responses to her and continued her quest downward, scooting herself as close to the edge as she could without falling off while freeing him from his boxers.

First she took him into both of her hands and worked him that way, watching his eyes flutter shut and body tense slightly under the influence of her movements. Then she lowered her head down and brought her lips just shy of his tip, letting her hot breath ghost upon it, and that got her a palpable shiver. She sensed his eyes opening and watching her as she then swirled her tongue along him, tasting lightly for a moment before taking a few inches into her mouth. He arched some then and hissed something unintelligible under his breath, and she brought her lips back to the very top before taking him fully, engulfing him in her warmth.

His hand in her hair started out gentle, running down to her neck and back and back up again, sweet and soft, then became strained and rougher as he tried to hold himself together for her sake. She kept working with both her hand and mouth, following his signals of when to go faster and letting the movement of his hips guide the rhythm.

She knew he'd try to pull her away when he got close, so when she started to sense that end approaching, she grabbed both of his hands away from her and held them down firmly at his sides. She knew he could overpower her if he really wanted to, but she also knew that he wouldn't. And he didn't. Instead, he gripped her hands nearly to the point of pain and let his head fall back as far as it could over the edge when that moment hit him and hit him hard.

She left him clean, and re-entered his line of vision with swollen red lips that he reached up and traced limply with his thumb. Her hair tickled his nose as she kissed the pad of his thumb and said, "You know... I know that I give you crap all the time to try to make you jealous and what not, but you should know that you're the only man I've ever actually enjoyed doing that to. Thought you might want to know that."

He smiled and pulled her down for a gentle kiss. His way of reciprocating the sentiment was to tell her, "I've never tasted anything like you before."

But because she was who she was, she grinned down at him and replied, "Well... can't say you're the first to say that."

He quickly narrowed his eyes pointedly at her and she laughed as she swung one leg over him, bringing both of her feet to the floor. "What? Honesty's our policy, right?"

He sat up as she pulled on her robe again and tossed his boxers to him. "Time and a place, Selina."

"Whatever you say," she smiled as she sauntered off. "I'll be in the shower."

* * *

A shower turned into a late morning and early afternoon in bed, neither having the care nor much of the energy needed to get up and spend the day further exploring Corfu. It would be time for lunch soon but for now, they savored the quiet, private little cocoon of silk sheets they'd created.

"Bruce," Selina said softly, lying with her head on his chest and left hand a few inches in front of her face. She stared at her wedding rings as he lightly groaned in reply. "What do you think our kids will be like when they grow up?"

"What brought that question on?" he chuckled.

"I don't know... just thinking."

"Well... Helena's going to be a handful."

Selina laughed. "Oh yeah. And probably leave a trail of broken hearts everywhere she goes."

"I see a lot of both of us in her," Bruce said softly. "She's... amazing."

Selina nodded her agreement. "And Thomas... he's so much like you, already. He's so serious all the time and just seems to absorb everything. And he looks just like you. Talk about a trail of broken hearts."

He chuckled. "I miss them."

"Me too. It's so strange not having them around."

Bruce then turned on his side, towards her, and moved down level with her. "Well... we've still got a few days to ourselves. What do you want to do today?"

She shrugged and brushed his hair back. "I'm pretty comfortable right here. But... there's a lot of this island that we still need to see."

"Very true," he murmured back. "Maybe we can go tour the monasteries today. Or shop. Whatever you want. We could even try keeping our clothes on the rest of the day."

She scoffed playfully. "Where's the fun in that? I like this daring, indecent side of you. You used to throw a fit if I just touched you a little bit in a restaurant."

"Maybe I just got sick of you calling me boy scout," he grinned. "I can see why Blake gets so annoyed when you call him 'boy wonder' or whatever."

"Blake," she sighed. "That little douche hooked up at our wedding. Don't let me forget to get him back for that."

"After all he's suffered because of us and our loudness - you want to get _him_ back?" Bruce asked incredulously. "Why do you always have it out for him?"

"... Because he's _him_. He's Blake. And I'm me. It's just the way it is. Anyway... how about we go dancing tonight?"

Her suggestion got as much enthusiasm as she'd expected, which was nil. She rolled her eyes and crawled fully on top of him as she pleaded, "Come on, Bruce. For me? And don't make the usual excuse of 'you don't dance'. I've seen you dance. Remember? And anyway... if you can move your hips the way you do during sex, you can definitely tear up a dance floor."

"I like how you're trying to convince me like this, as if I was ever going to say no to you."

She smiled at his words and leaned down to kiss him, hoping he'd never learn the word no for the duration of their marriage.

* * *

Their night of dancing was a fun one, made more fun by wine consumption on Selina's part and Bruce's eventual warming up to the actual idea of dancing. They stayed out late and then didn't fall asleep for two hours once they got back to their suite, but neither of them seemed very capable of sleeping in any longer than 9 AM. It was difficult, as it happened, to turn off their internal 'parent clocks'.

They spent the fourth day doing touristy things, shopping downtown and walking about the city square, making sure to take some pictures along the way, lest they forgot and Alfred and Molly never let them hear the end of it. But by midday they were both rather tired, their late night finally catching up with them, and they headed back to the hotel just before dinnertime.

It was during this relaxing break in their schedule that Selina emerged from their suite's bathroom to find Bruce sitting at the piano in the room, staring down and running his fingers over the keys but not pressing down. She tilted her head as she watched him, taking quiet steps towards him as she asked curiously, "Do you play?"

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Not exactly. I took classes when I was teenager because Alfred forced me to try to learn one instrument, but... it's been a long time."

Then she watched as his fingertips pressed down on the keys, and a surprisingly lovely melody began to flow through the air. It stopped abruptly when he halted his fingers, and slowly she sat down beside him on the bench. "That sounded good."

"Let's see if I can remember this..." he muttered, closing his eyes before again starting to play. This time he managed to play for a solid thirty seconds, and Selina found watching to be a similar experience to watching him eat the pomegranate from a few days ago. Where that displayed his skills with his mouth, this one demonstrated those of his fingers, and even aside from that, seeing Bruce playing an instrument wasn't something she'd ever expected to see.

When he stopped, she got up to her feet and smiled back at him as she urged, "Play some more. For me." He smiled, then, as she hopped up on top of the piano and laid down on her side, grinning and ready to watch him.

"I'll do my best," he grinned in reply.

She could see as he played that if he wanted to, he could have been an excellent piano player. His form was perfect and his fingers and hands were the perfect length and width to gracefully hit the keys.

When he'd played all that he could remember of the song in question, he sighed and pulled his hands away, staring down at the keys as Selina asked, "What song was that?"

"It was one of my mother's favorites," he said quietly. "Only song I ever genuinely tried to learn."

"It's beautiful," Selina replied. "Who knew you had musical talent lurking underneath all those other talents."

He shrugged his shoulders lightly and smiled at her as she gracefully swung her legs forward, just so that her feet dangled down just past the piano's keys. He brought his hands to one of her knees just before placing a kiss there, and he said softly, "Can you believe we only have one more day left here?"

"Went by too fast," she agreed. "But I miss the kids so much... I'm ready to go home, at the same time."

"Me too." He rested his cheek on her thigh just above her knee, running his hand over the smooth skin of her other leg as he looked up at her and added, "It's been fun to be like this again, alone and able to do whatever we want all day. But do you want to know when you're the sexiest in my eyes?"

"When?" she asked, genuinely intrigued to know the answer.

"At home, when you've got one or both kids on your hips, makeup worn off after a long day, hair up or down and just as messy either way. Mismatched clothes. Not caring at all in that moment what you look like. Because then, in those rare moments when you truly don't care and you let your guard completely down, and you smile at one of the kids or kiss them on the cheek... you get such a look of love in your eyes and it's... one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

She smiled but rolled her eyes a little. "So cliched, Bruce. Telling a girl she looks her best at her worst."

He pressed a kiss to her inner thigh and smiled. "Truth is truth. How else do you think cliches are ever started?"

"True... sort of like the cliche of a woman on top of a piano while a man plays," Selina noted. "I guess we're both full of cliches. Speaking of... what's on the agenda for tomorrow? Being our last day of freedom and all."

"Something you'll like," he murmured, standing up and wrapping his arms around her waist. He lifted her up against him and began carrying her towards the bed.

"Another surprise," she grinned. "How you spoil me, Bruce."

He grinned. "How I enjoy it."

* * *

On their final night in Greece, Selina found herself on a luxury yacht, floating peacefully on the edge of the sea, cruising through the dark night underneath a cloudless sky full of bright stars and a half moon. The night was cool but not cold, rather perfect feeling to her skin as they cruised.

They'd begun the cruise just before sundown, and Selina was still dressed in a bikini and a thin, thigh-length black cover as she laid out on the open deck, enjoying the sights around her while Bruce quietly approached her from the cabin. He was in shorts and an open white shirt, just as breezy and casual as she, and he sat down beside her bearing two champagne flutes.

"Thanks," she grinned, taking the glass from his hands.

"Welcome," he replied. "Ever gonna come down to the cabin or do you plan on sleeping up here?"

She sipped the sparkly liquid and said, "Well, I haven't slept under the stars in a long time. I might like that."

"The bed's more comfortable," he replied. "Especially for a... recovering cripple."

"Has this week been crippling for you?" she asked playfully. "Should I have the physical therapist waiting when we get home?"

"No, but now that you mention it, my back actually has been hurting a little the last day or two."

"Aw, I'm sorry," she said, laying her head down on his shoulder. "I don't know how to go easy on you."

"I've noticed."

She smiled, watching as he drained his glass. "Hey, you're actually drinking with me. And after your night of shots and throwing up, no less."

"I'm forcing it down for your sake," he admitted, setting the glass aside. " didn't like alcohol to begin with and that night just made sure I never will."

She snickered. "I'm sorry Eric couldn't resist crashing your party. Little prick."

Bruce paused for a moment, his arm moving around her waist before he spoke again. "I wasn't surprised. I just... hate his face."

"Oh, come on. He means well. He's a jerk, yes, and lives to push buttons, but still."

"I know. But I don't care. I can tolerate him for your sake, but I still want to strangle him every time he looks at you."

Selina shrugged. "I doubt I'd be able to tolerate an ex-lover of yours hanging around for any period of time. So that's actually impressive."

"Just shows how stupidly in love with you I am."

Selina smiled at him and then laid down flat on her back, staring up at the stars as he lay next to her. "I hope this lasts."

"It will."

She turned her head towards him and said, "You sound sure."

"Aren't you?"

"Yeah. There's just always going to be a part of me waiting for something to happen to take it all away."

Bruce nodded. He understood, because he could say the same about himself. They were products of their past, and always would be. "I know. But I won't let that happen."

She looked him in the eyes, nodding slightly. "I can't wait to see the kids tomorrow."

He smiled. "Me neither."

She laughed at herself, then said, "That's pretty high up on my list of things I never thought I'd say, before I had kids."

"Last week I told Helena to stop beating Aidan with a spatula," Bruce chuckled. "Never thought I'd say that."

Selina laughed. "That girl... she's a little too much like me, I think."

"What, stomping around like she owns the world and breaking innocent little boys' hearts?" Bruce chided.

"Maybe," Selina grinned. "Caught her getting into the pearls a few weeks ago. Great minds think alike, right?"

Bruce groaned. "Couple more years and I'll have two girls thinning out my wallet instead of one."

"It's what little girls do," Selina pointed out. "Maybe Thomas will give you a break and be easier."

"He's our child," Bruce said. "Being easy isn't a possibility."

She shrugged. "Well. Probably true. He'll probably be broody like you. Good God. You'll both need a cave to sit and be moody in."

Bruce laughed at that one. "Hey, I'm not as moody now."

She raised a brow to him. "You saw me showing Helena your parents' picture and walked around for the next two days looking like it had all just happened yesterday." When Bruce had no retort, she added, "It's okay. You feel things harder and deeper than anyone I've ever known. And that's part of what makes you who you are. And I know how it hurts to know certain people won't ever be able to meet your babies."

"It does hurt," he said quietly. "Never really stops, either."

She shook her head. "I know. But it's life. Our life, anyway."

"It won't be our kids' lives," Bruce said, his tone serious. "I promise you that."

She believed him. "I know."

* * *

"_Mama_! _Daddy_!"

The little island was full of girlish squeals when Bruce and Selina returned in the early afternoon the next day. Helena ran out of Alfred's front door and catapulted herself into Selina's arms, and Thomas started wildly clapping and flapping his arms when he caught a glimpse of his parents from Alfred's arms. Helena squeezed her mother to death and then all but jumped at her father, giving him a tight neck-hug and giggling as he squeezed her back.

Selina took her son from Alfred's arms and was peppering his fat little face with kisses as Bruce approached the older man, his daughter still in his arms, and said, "Thanks again, Alfred. You and Molly both."

"It's no problem," Alfred grinned. "They were little angels the whole time. Though you might want to take Helena to a dentist, considering the amount of sugar I fed her over the week."

"I'm sure we'll manage," Bruce replied. "So... the jet's fueled and ready to go."

"Sir?"

"You and Leslie get to have a honeymoon, too," Bruce grinned. "Tell the pilot and he'll take you guys anywhere. I'll cover for Leslie while you're gone."

"Normally I would refuse such an idea and argue with you but, under the circumstances, I suppose I can make an exception," Alfred replied with an appreciative smile.

"Good. Go."

Alfred nodded. "I'm proud of you, by the way. And very, very happy for you."

Bruce nodded back. No other words needed to be said.


End file.
